Spirited Away
by Reizbar-Ookami
Summary: Now that they have custody of Jounouchi, the Mutous decide taking a vacation to get his mind off Domino won't be so bad. But when they wander into the spirits' world, they're stuck with more than they bargain for, especially after they meet Seth and Yami.
1. Chapter 1

Author's Note: So… I've been watching Hayao Miyazaki's _Spirited Away_ almost every night for the last three weeks. And this is what happened. -_-; I'm so lame. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it! I'll still be updating my other stories, too, don't worry.

Edit (09-14-09): Okay, since fanfiction's being so totally GAY, it's saying this story doesn't exist. . So I've _deleted_ it and _remade_ it. Sorry peoples… IT'S NOT MY FAULT!

Edit (08-13-10): I fixed Jounouchi's accent. Sorry, guys. **:**/ He still calls Yuugi 'Yuug' though. Because I like to think that it's a cute nickname between buddies.

Chapter 1

_Have a good trip, Yuugi and Jounouchi!_

_See you when you get back!_

_-Anzu_

Yuugi sighed and flipped the card over to look at the back.

_Try to keep your minds off of Domino._

He knew that the last part had been more directed at Jounouchi. Jounouchi's father had finally gone too far, and he'd been taken by Children's Services away from him. It had taken a lot of court dates and fighting, but finally, Yuugi's mother had gotten custody of him, since Kawai-san wanted nothing to do with him. Jounouchi was still pretty depressed and upset over it, though—his mother hadn't even hesitated when she said that no, she didn't want him. That's why his grandfather and mother had decided that a vacation was in order, to try and make him feel better.

Because really, Jounouchi having trouble eating was wrong on so many levels.

He glanced up at his friend and frowned, then punched him lightly in the shoulder. "Hey, cheer up, Jounouchi-kun. We're going to a theme park! It's going to be fun!"

Jounouchi sighed and crossed his arms. "Yeah, I know."

Mutou Ashita turned to look over her seat at them. "You could sound a bit more excited about it."

"I know. I'm sorry," the blond sighed again, slouching in his seat. "I don't mean to be like this."

"Of course you don't, Jounouchi-kun," Mutou Sugoroku agreed, nodding at him through the rear view mirror. He frowned as they came to a dirt road. "Hmm, I don't remember this from the directions. Did I take a wrong turn?"

"Funny. It should just go through, shouldn't it? I don't see it on the map," Ashita stated, frowning as well.

The old man sighed, narrowing his eyes skeptically, then shrugged. "Well, if it doesn't go through, we can always turn around." And they began onto the dirt road.

Yuugi tilted his head as he saw a bunch of things out the window among the trees. "What are those things? They look like little houses."

Ashita glanced over at them momentarily before looking back at the map. "Rock temples. People believe that the spirits live in them."

"Ack-! Jounouchi-kun, just ask me to move!" the younger boy exclaimed in alarm, ducking backward to avoid being crushed by his friend as he went to look out the window as well.

The blond rubbed the back of his head bashfully and hurriedly leaned back. "Sorry, Yuug'."

"You need to learn some personal space, Jounouchi-kun," the woman pointed out absently, then pointed at a spot on the map. "Perhaps this is where we need to go."

Jounouchi flinched and ducked further into his own seat. "I'm sorry."

"_Mom!_ Jounouchi-kun, I don't mind you getting in my personal space," Yuugi assured, reaching out to pat his shoulder. "Just warn me, okay? You're a lot bigger than me and I almost dropped Anzu's card."

The blond moved his gaze away from him and sighed. "I'm still sorry."

"That's okay! It's sort of like…" The younger boy cast around for a reason to make it seem okay and smooth his friend's 'raised hackles,' for lack of a better term. "…Like having a big rowdy puppy jumping around!"

"Oh. Thanks." Jounouchi frowned a little. "…I think."

Yuugi smiled brightly. "It's a compliment, really!" he replied, only to yelp as the car began to bounce and sent him directly into his friend's lap. "Ack!"

"_Dad!_ Slow down!" Ashita exclaimed, pressing her hands against the dashboard to try and brace herself. "You're going too fast!"

"Relax!" the old man answered, seemingly uncaring about the shocks of his car getting the workout of a lifetime. "I've got four-wheel drive!"

"Ow-ow-ow-ow-ow-ow!" Jounouchi grimaced as his friend's elbow slammed into his gut and grabbed the back of his shirt to try and lift him off, but the car was just jostling them too much. Besides, he wasn't the only one in pain; Yuugi kept hitting his head on the handle of the back of the seat in front of them.

Sugoroku frowned and slammed on the breaks as he saw some sort of statue in the road, then hummed and looked up at the big red building in surprise. "Hmm, what is that?"

"_Dad!_ You could have _killed_ us!" Ashita exclaimed, then frowned as her father got out of the car. "Where are you going now?"

The old man placed his hands on his hips and looked up at the red walls of what looked like an entrance to a building, then went up and pressed his hand against it. Nodding slightly, he turned back to them. "I knew it. These walls aren't old, they're fake; they're made of plaster."

"What's your point, Gramps?" Jounouchi called after him, leaning out of the window.

"Let's take a look at what's inside," Sugoroku suggested. "It'll be like a small adventure before our big one at the theme park!"

"Dad, we'll be late for our hotel reservations," Ashita sighed, but got out nonetheless.

Jounouchi looked down at his friend skeptically, but when he just shrugged, he sighed and opened the door. "Let's go before he gets himself lost."

"Yeah, Mom still hasn't gotten over that one time..." Yuugi agreed, sighing.

The blond snorted. "What, don't you remember what he said? 'I was only going to the store to buy some bananas,'" he stated, deepening his voice to mock the old man.

The younger teen rolled his eyes. "And he wound up a mile away from the grocery store."

"Yeah, well—" Jounouchi looked down in surprise as he felt the wind tugging at his clothes, seemingly leading both he and Yuugi toward the tunnel.

He glanced at his friend hesitantly, but when the smaller boy merely shrugged, he sighed and began after the two adults. When the amount of light began to fade, however, he stuck closer to Yuugi—and they both moved a little closer to his mother and grandfather.

They came out into what looked like a waiting area, for a train or a ferry or something. Yuugi tilted his head and looked around. "I wonder what this is for."

"Wait." Ashita lifted a hand to her ear. "Do you hear that?"

Both Jounouchi and Yuugi quieted. After a few moments of listening intently, they heard the soft 'swssshhhhswsshhhh' of heavy metal against metal and the 'puffpuffpuff' of a steam engine.

Yuugi perked up. "It's a train!"

"Let's go look outside," Sugoroku suggested, pointing toward the arched doorway. "Perhaps we'll see it."

"This place gives me the willies," Jounouchi commented quietly, looking down at his friend. "D'you feel that?"

The smaller boy crossed his arms and frowned. "Yeah, I do, and I sort of want to get going again. But, Grandpa wants to keep at this, and you know Grandpa."

Following the adults out of the building, the two boys stopped in awe and looked around. "Whoa, I've never seen this much open space!"

"Look at those rocks! It's like they were carved to be people!"

Both boys paused, then looked up (or in Jounouchi's case, down) at their grandfather. "What are those weird looking buildings?"

The old man threw his head back and laughed proudly. "I knew it! It's an abandoned theme park!"

Ashita sighed. "Dad, don't laugh like that."

Sugoroku continued as if she hadn't said anything and explained, "They built them everywhere in the early nineties. Then the economy went bad and they all went bankrupt." He turned and glanced up at the clock tower of the building they'd just gone into. "This must be one of them."

Yuugi frowned as his grandfather began walking again. "Hey, we found out what it was—we should get going again! Grandpa!"

"We've still got reservations to get to!" Ashita reminded him, then sighed and followed. "I swear, that old man's going to be the death of me."

"…So should we stay here and wait for your mom, or…?" Jounouchi asked, tapping his fingers together anxiously.

Both boys jumped as a rush of wind came out from the building and turned to look at it. The building seemed to groan at them, as if wanting them to move.

No surprise that they ran after the adults.

"Hey-! Did you hear that? It sounded like the building was moaning!" Yuugi exclaimed once they caught up.

"It's just the wind," his mother answered, then smiled and took a deep breath. "Oh, it's lovely out here. It's too bad we didn't bring our lunch; we could have had a picnic."

Jounouchi stopped and frowned. "…Didn't you just say we had to get to our reservations?"

The smaller boy scowled and crossed his arms. "Sometimes they drive me crazy!"

Crossing a bunch of boulders and rocks, Sugoroku chuckled. "Looks like they were planning to put a river here. They must have run out of money before they could."

"Dad! You're going to break a hip!" Ashita exclaimed, then sighed and climbed after him. "Dad, you really should act your age."

"And sit in a rocking chair for the rest of my life? Ha! I've still got plenty of time left!" the old man answered, striking a pose supposed to be emanating strength but only managing to look silly. He frowned for a moment and began to sniff, then turned toward his daughter as she finally caught up with him. "Hey, do you smell that?" He sniffed again. "Smells good!"

Both Jounouchi and Yuugi looked up, then began to sniff as well. Yuugi could smell food cooking faintly; Jounouchi could tell immediately it was beef and chicken and roasted and boiled vegetables. Living on the streets had given him a very sensitive nose.

Ashita could smell it too. "Mm, it does smell good. And I'm starving."

"Maybe this theme park is still in business. Let's go check it out," the old man suggested.

She couldn't really say no, since she was hungry too. Looking back at the boys, she nodded. "Hurry up. We don't want to lose your grandfather."

He found that offensive. "I'm right here!"

"Coming!" Jounouchi and Yuugi called back, before the blond slipped and let out a yelp as he fell into a puddle of the small, still moving stream of water weaving its way through. "Ow!"

"…You're sort of clumsy, Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi laughed, offering his hand to help him up. "Are you okay?"

The blond huffed and took his hand to pull himself up. "Yeah, 'm fine."

Once he was up and they both made it to the steps, they hurried after the two adults, the taller boy grumbling about his wet pants and the smaller one laughing not necessarily at him, but in good humor.

As they walked, Jounouchi felt a shiver up his spine, as if someone was watching him; he'd become extremely attuned to whether people were watching him on the streets. Turning, he looked around, and he saw a flash of dark red and gold on one of the roofs. He frowned and stared at it for a few moments, to see if maybe he'd catch another glimpse. When he realized that the thing wasn't going to show itself again, he sighed and turned to catch up to the others.

Ashita looked around and hummed thoughtfully. "That's strange; they're all restaurants."

Yuugi glanced around as well, but he kept his attention mostly on his grandfather, who was sniffing around for whatever they were smelling. "I wonder where all the people are…"

"Hey! Over here! I found it!" Sugoroku called out, waving for them to come.

Hurrying over to him, the three found a counter with dozens of foods stacked around. Behind the bar were a few different grills sizzling with more food. It all smelled good, and looked delicious.

Jounouchi felt his stomach churn. He wondered if his father was getting enough to eat without him there. He didn't feel so hungry anymore…

"I don't feel too good," he admitted, crossing his arms over his stomach.

"Just sit down, Jounouchi-kun. I'm sure you'll feel better. Getting some decent food in your stomach after all that junk food may help," Ashita answered, sitting down and looking around.

"Hello, is anybody there?" the old man called, looking around. "Does anybody work here?"

She smiled and looked over at him. "Dad, I'm sure we can pay the bill when they get back."

"That's right!" Sugoroku sat as well and began filling his plate. "I've got both credit cards and cash on me!"

Yuugi, seeing his friend eyeing the food warily, smiled weakly. "Maybe if we take a little walk you'll feel better. Mom, Grandpa, we're gonna take a quick walk before we eat, okay?"

Ashita looked back at them and nodded. "Alright, but don't go too far. We don't want you to get lost."

"If we lose each other, we can always meet up back at the car," Sugoroku stated, before they got out of earshot.

The two teens waved to show that they'd heard him and began their walk away. Jounouchi sighed and shoved his hands in his pockets. "I'm sorry, Yuug'."

"It's okay. I had too many burgers earlier anyway," the smaller boy answered, resting his hands behind his head as they walked. "Besides, it's more interesting to explore, don't you think?"

The blond glanced around anxiously, remembering the flash of crimson and gold he'd seen earlier. "…Yeah. Way more interesting."

Yuugi rolled his eyes; sometimes his friend was really too weird. He blinked as he saw smoke rising from behind a building, then grabbed his friend's wrist and began to run toward it. "Come on, Jounouchi-kun!"

"Ack! Where are we going?" the taller boy exclaimed, stumbling a little before catching up to him.

"To see where that black smoke is coming from!" the violet-eyed teen replied, then stopped abruptly once they'd turned the corner to see a large red building decorated with sea-foam green and gold. "Oh wow."

Jounouchi squeaked as he nearly bowled the smaller boy over, then frowned and looked up at the building as well. "Huh. It's a bathhouse." He squinted up at the sign and tilted his head. "It's called… 'ABURAME.'"

"Weird. I wonder how they keep it running. I don't see anyone here." Yuugi looked over to the small waterfall and tilted his head as well, then stepped to the bridge. "Hey, look, you can see the railroad tracks."

"Ah?" Joey shoved his hands back into his pockets, sighing, and walked over to stand by him. "I wonder how long it is."

At that, the old child-hood excitement struck. "Oh-! Look, there it is!"

…It wasn't that different from Jounouchi. "What-! Where?" he asked quickly, leaning over the side of the bridge. "Wow! That's sort of a short train!"

Once it was out of sight on once side, they moved to the other side to watch it go. It was then that Jounouchi felt he was being watched again, and he turned, only to find his gaze locked with some guy's—he was tall, with brown hair and sharp, almost unnaturally blue eyes. He tilted his head innocently; the place had seemed lifeless before, so where had he come from?

The surprised expression on the other boy's face was quick to fade, only to be replaced by anger. "What are you doing here? You shouldn't be here!"

Yuugi immediately hid behind his friend, frowning. "S-sorry. We didn't know—"

The brunet looked around quickly, then turned his glare back on them. "It's almost dark! You have to leave before it's too late! Go, now!"

Jounouchi was half tempted to punch the guy in the face, if only because he'd frightened Yuugi. However, every alarm in his body was urging him to flee, so he turned toward Yuugi. "Let's go, Yuu—" He cut himself off as the lamps nearby began to turn on, and suddenly the alarms were ringing louder—something very very very bad was going to happen.

The brunet seemed to realize this, also. "Fuck! Hurry—get through the tunnel before it's too late! I'll hold them off!" he ordered, turning back to the bathhouse. "Yami! Follow them and make sure they get out!"

Jounouchi grabbed his friend's arm and began running. "Let's go!"

"Ack-! We have to go get my mom and grandpa!" Yuugi exclaimed, stumbling for a moment before he ran after him.

Both boys grew alarmed as shadowy figures began to appear, fading in from nowhere as they ran. Jounouchi knew that if it was just him, he'd panic and probably get himself hurt, so he thanked every god he knew about that Yuugi was with him. Yuugi was the only thing keeping him from going nuts.

Running back to the restaurant that they'd left their adult guardians, Yuugi rushed inside and grabbed the back of his grandfather's shirt. "Grandpa! Mom! We have to go!"

Jounouchi realized that something was very wrong when his grandfather ignored him and hurriedly yanked him back just in time for the pig wearing his grandfather's clothes to knock some large, heavy dishes where he'd been standing a minute before. "Yuug', look out!"

"Where are my mom and grandpa?" Yuugi exclaimed frantically, looking back up at him. "They were here when we left and—" He cut himself off as he heard a whipping sound, and then suddenly something smacked the pig's cheek so it fell down onto the ground, squealing in pain and surprise.

They shrank back to avoid being crushed by it. "They said to meet by the car if we lost each other! Let's go!" the blond answered quickly, and they both took off at a sprint back toward where the supposed-to-be river was. "Besides, this is probably just a bad dream 'cause we ate so much junk food in the car, right?"

"Right! Ah, Jounouchi look out!"

The blond turned his gaze away from his friend to look where he was going and let out a high-pitched squeal as he ran through one of the black spirits. "_Meeeep!_ Cold!"

Yuugi grabbed his hand and began dragging him along again. "Come on!"

Jounouchi looked over his shoulder at the spirit in surprise as they began down the stairs only to let out another squeal as both he and fell thigh-deep into water. "AGH!" Turning, he thrust Yuugi back onto the steps and scrambled up after him.

The smaller boy looked down at the water and frowned in confusion, startled to find a wide river where there had been none and a large boat-like ferry was coming toward them. "Water? But—but—how did—"

The blond watched in both awe and horrified confusion as the ferry slowed to a stop and a ramp began to lower, and floating pieces of paper began down it; a body began to form behind the papers as soon as they reached land. Hearing a whimper, he felt his heart sink, and he turned to find his friend curled up in a ball. He frowned and reached out to touch his shoulder only to gasp as he found he could see his friend through his hand.

"What the hell?" He lifted his other hand to see if it was see-through also, then groaned loudly. "Oh, God, I gotta wake up from this-!"

"Why, what—Jounouchi-kun, you're see-through!" Yuugi exclaimed once he looked up and saw it, pointing at him—only to find he was also afflicted with this. "Oh my God! I'm see-through too!" He reached up and yanked on his hair quickly. "Wakeupwakeupwakeup!"

Both teens turned sharply as they heard a low-pitched screech, but didn't get a chance to see what had caused it because suddenly talons were sinking into the backs of their jackets and they were being lifted off the ground. They began struggling wildly, and Jounouchi began to curse and snarl and flail about, as that had been how he escaped from most attackers from behind.

They were dropped behind a building nearby, and Jounouchi hurriedly ushered his friend under a lean-to against the stone wall. Then, he turned and wrapped his arms around him, trying to hold back his own tears as Yuugi cried into his side in confusion and watching the large red and gold bird flying away.


	2. Chapter 2

Author's Note: So some people have been wondering why I switch between Japanese and English names. Well, for _this_ particular story… English doesn't have kanji. **:**D Therefore, I needed to use Japanese names so that when Yu-Baaba takes them, there would still be pieces of their names left behind, just like when she takes some kanji away from Chihiro's name and leaves the simple character of 'Sen' (the kanji for 'sen' and 'chi' are the same, so 'sen' is actually part of her name).

That, and I can now capitalize on the YuuJou friendship! Because Takahashi made their names for that reason; so that their friendship could have a deeper meaning. And you gotta admit, you don't see a lot of friends that close nowadays (especially considering the way they became friends). And _yes,_ I'm aware that 'yuujou' means friendship/fellowship. You don't need to review me telling me so because I'M NOT DUMB. Thanks.

Chapter 2

Jounouchi jumped as he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned to immediately punch the offender, only to cry out in dismay when he found his arm going through the person. Violence wouldn't work. He pushed Yuugi further behind him and growled. "The hell do _you_ want?"

It was the man that they'd seen at the bathhouse. He sighed, then knelt beside him and held out his hand. "You need to eat some food from this world, or else you'll disappear." When the blond only eyed his hand with obvious distrust, he sighed again. "Don't worry. It won't turn you into a pig."

The blond frowned, but what did he have to lose, really? Taking one of the berries from his hand, he hesitated before pushing it in his mouth. It didn't taste bad, per se, but it had a funny texture. "Bleckh."

"…So it's not delicious," the man stated, rolling his eyes, then reached out to offer the other berry to Yuugi. "But it will keep you from disappearing."

Yuugi looked up at his friend and frowned, then looked back at the strange man and nodded a little. "Okay." This was soon followed by another, more enthusiastic, "_Bleckh!_"

The man couldn't help a small smile. "Humans are so picky."

"Are they okay now?" another man asked, and Jounouchi let out a squawk and shoved Yuugi back underneath the lean-to.

"…Yami, you're scaring them."

"I don't know why; I'm perfectly normal compared to some of the spirits here."

The brunet snorted. "I believe even _you_ have noticed that you and the human look alike."

Ah, so the crazy bird-guy that looked like Yuugi was actually called Yami. Well, peachy.

"Alright, come on; we have to get you out of here before Yu-Baaba finds you," the brunet stated, reaching out for his hand. "Come with us."

Jounouchi yanked it back swiftly, scowling. "Hell no! I don't even know who you are, what your name is-!"

"Where are my mom and grandpa?" Yuugi asked quickly, ducking around his friend. "They… they didn't really turn into pigs, did they?"

The man that looked like Yuugi—but for being taller and having hair surprisingly more outrageous, and, the blond supposed, his PSYCHO RED EYES—took a step forward, frowning. "You can't see them right now, but we'll take you to them soon. For now, you just have to trust us."

The brunet hissed and lunged forward, hiding them from view as a raven-like bird with the head of an old woman flew by. "Yami, can you take care of that?"

Yami looked up at the bird, then narrowed his eyes; it was as if he had something personal against the crony bird. "I will keep it busy until you've gotten halfway to the bathhouse. I will meet you there."

The two humans flinched back as the man suddenly burst into flame, and they learned that Yami was actually the large crimson bird that had carried them away from the river, where they surely would have been seen by the Yu-bird had he not saved them.

The brunet stood and grabbed Jounouchi's jacket, giving him a hard yank. "Let's go while it's distracted!"

Yuugi and Jounouchi shared one last look before they stood and readied themselves for a good run—like back when Jounouchi had 'panty-tanked' Anzu and she'd chased both he and Yuugi until they finally jumped a fence, which she couldn't do in her skirt. …Yuugi was still a little hurt that she'd blamed him too though.

Jounouchi yelped as the man grabbed his hand and took off, quickly reaching back to grab his friend's sleeve so they wouldn't be separated. "What the _fuck,_ man? A little warning is nice!"

It was hard to keep up with where he was leading them, they were going so fast, and both Yuugi and Jounouchi wondered how this was possible when they were certain that they hadn't been able to before. They were led down a back alley lit by a few lamps, and then the man lifted his free hand as they came upon a door. It slid open just before they got to it, allowing them to run inside. Both humans looked back in surprise to watch it slide back shut, a board locking it in place.

They went down some stairs (well, actually, Jounouchi tripped, but Yuugi had yanked him so he had help to land on his feet) and past barrels of dead fish ready to be butchered. The fish were bigger than they were and all had very sharp teeth; both boys wondered if those fish had been caught in the river, and how lucky they were to have gotten out so quickly. This was followed by a short trip through a freezer, filled with even more fish and some cows. The man lifted his hand again, forcing the door ahead of them open, and it slammed again behind them as they ran through a bunch of pigpens.

Yuugi couldn't help looking around anxiously to see if maybe he could see his mother and grandfather around, and the blond felt a rush of guilt; this was entirely his fault.

Once rushing out of the pigpens, the man led them down a hill toward the bathhouse. It was there that Yami caught up to them, diving toward the ground in a rush of flames and screeches before he was back in his humanoid, Yuugi-like form. Being some sort of bird spirit didn't keep him from running just as fast as they did, and they soon found themselves coming up to a gate that led to the bathhouse.

Jounouchi yelped as the brunet came to an abrupt halt and tried to stop as well, but he skidded on the dirt and ended up slamming into his back. It was like rushing into a brick wall. "Ow-!"

"Meep! Jounouchi-kun, are you okay?"

"…Yeah, I think so." The blond released both boys' hands in favor of rubbing his nose.

The brunet frowned and leaned forward to unlock the gate they'd stopped in front of. "…Yami, do you think you can carry them down to the boiler room?"

"I can only carry one of them that distance, I think," Yami replied, frowning. "They're very heavy together—and they throw me off balance. I'd fly into a wall. …Seth, do you know what you're doing?"

The strange man finally had a name! For some reason, that was immensely pleasing to the two humans, and they felt a little more relaxed. But only a little, because Yami had mentioned separating them from each other!

Seth turned to glare at him. "Of course I know what I'm doing. I always know what I'm doing."

"_That_ remains to be seen. I'll take Yuugi; he's lighter and I can get him down there more safely," Yami stated, placing his hands on his hips.

Yuugi and Jounouchi took a step closer together as the smaller boy anxiously answered, "I don't want to leave Jounouchi-kun! Don't make me-!"

"You'll be together again soon," Seth promised, reaching out to pat him on the head. "I just can't use the spell on both of you at once, Yami can't carry both of you, and we don't have time to waste. I'll take… Jounouchi-kun, and he'll meet you down by the boiler room. Just wait for him there, and I'll make sure he gets back to you."

Jounouchi smiled weakly and ruffled his friend's hair. "Yeah, I'll catch up. 'sides, if it turns out he's just tricking us, I'll punch him in the face."

Both Seth and Yami failed to see how that was really a threat, as he'd probably not even manage to wound the brunet. Yuugi, however, saw this as a great comfort, so he nodded and turned toward his look-alike. "Okay. I'll go with you."

Yami blinked, then nodded slowly, and in another burst of flames he was the large crimson phoenix they had seen before. He dipped his head to allow the boy onto his back, then turned and shot Seth a sharp look before he took to the sky.

"…Hey, he's really warm!" Yuugi exclaimed, just before they were too far in the air for the blond to answer.

Jounouchi frowned and crossed his arms. "…I'm really warm too…"

"Now is not the time to be jealous," Seth stated sharply, grabbing his hand and beginning to lead him through the gate. "Listen carefully to what I say and try not to screw up."

The blond scowled but decided that he couldn't afford being snappy or rude. Instead, he just nodded. "Fine."

Seth grabbed his hand and sighed, then began leading him toward the bridge. "I've already got most of the spell cast. Once we step onto the bridge, you _must_ hold your breath. Even the smallest breath will break the spell, and anyone would be able to see you. We don't want that to happen. Can you hold your breath that long?"

Jounouchi hesitated for a moment before nodding slightly. "I think so. I will."

"Good." The brunet led him onto the road leading to the bridge and tugged on his hand to bring him closer. He spared the frog spirits only a small glance before looking back at where he was going. "I'm back from my mission."

"Ah, welcome back, Master Seth!"

Seth didn't bother to reply; his gaze didn't even flicker as he began to speak softly. "Take a deep breath." The blond did as he was told, taking as deep a breath as he could. "Now hold it."

Jounouchi immediately reached up and grabbed his nose, keeping any of his breath from escaping and keeping anymore from coming in. He didn't want to be seen by all of these spirits, didn't want to get caught and have them do who-knows-what to him. He winced slightly as a black figure that appeared to have a mask on looked at him and eyed the strange spirit warily, taking a short step closer to the brunet.

They were nearing the other side of the bridge. He was grateful for that; his breath was running out. Ahead of them, around all of the spirits walking to and from the bathhouse, a group of women stood greeting everyone like the two frog spirits had. It was sort of creepy how they all said the same thing at the same time, but he supposed it was because they all looked like the same type of spirit. He nearly sighed in relief when he saw they were almost all the way across; the only thing that stopped him from doing so was that he'd been told not to.

His relief was short-lived. A little green creature in a blue kimono rushed toward them, crying, "Master Seeeth!" He leapt up. "Where ya been!"

Jounouchi took a step back and gasped, instinctively feeling as if he were being attacked. He lashed out swiftly, smacking the creature away quickly—only to realize it was another frog, probably younger than the other frog spirits he'd seen. He felt slightly guilty, but it shouldn't have gotten in his face!

Seeing the commotion it might cause, Seth lifted his hand, catching the frog in a dark bubble that kept it from moving and making any noise. "Follow me!"

The blond squeaked and ran after him quickly as he rushed forward, flying past the group of women. They all squealed and laughed as the skirts of their kimonos flew up, causing enough of a distraction for the former street punk to scramble past them to the little wooden door the brunet was waiting at for him. He scrambled through the tiny door and turned to see him follow quickly.

The older man caught his hand and began dragging him through what looked like some sort of garden that led to another door inside the bathhouse. He was led just past the door to hide behind one of the larger plants, where the brunet knelt and listened carefully as the rest of the bathhouse went crazy about a human being there.

Jounouchi winced and bit his bottom lip. "…I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to take a breath. He just startled me and got way too close. I didn't mean to…" He trailed off as the brunet glared at him and looked away quickly.

Seth took a deep breath to keep himself from getting too angry, then sighed. "…It's fine. I shouldn't have expected a human like you to be able to handle something like that. You didn't have to hit him, though."

"I didn't mean to," the blond mumbled, looking down.

"…It's fine." The man sighed again and ran a hand through his hair, then noddeda little and looked back at him. "Listen, you can't stay here, or else they'll find you. I'll tell you where to go, then I'll go and take their attention off of you."

"But-! Yuugi's mom and grandpa! What about them?" Jounouchi asked quickly, grabbing his kimono. "I need to help them—"

"_First,_" Seth stated, grabbing his wrist to pull it away. "You need to help yourself and your friend."

The blond blushed a little when the older man failed to let go of his wrist, but for some reason, it felt comforting. "…So they really did turn into pigs then. We're not in some crazy dream."

"No, you're not." Seth reached up to brush his bangs out of his eyes and pressed his fingers against his forehead. "Now listen to me carefully."

Jounouchi gasped softly as his vision was taken up by a small wooden door like the one they'd come in through. "Ah-!"

"When I go inside and things quiet down, go out the back gate. Go all the way down the stairs until you reach the boiler room. Then—"

"What's the boiler room?" the teen cut in, frowning.

Seth sighed. "It's where they stoke the fires. That's where you'll find Kamajii, the boiler man."

Jounouchi saw the boiler room—the door opening to show orange heat—before the fingers on his forehead were gone and he saw the brunet looking at him again. "K-Kamajii?"

"Yes, Kamajii. Tell him you and your friend want to work. Even if he refuses, you _must_ insist," the brunet stated. "If you don't get a job here, Yu-Baaba will turn you into an animal."

The blond tilted his head, softly repeating, "Yu-Baaba…?"

"She's the witch that rules the bathhouse," Seth explained, eyes taking on a hardened glint. "Kamajii will try to turn you away or trick you into leaving. Don't be swayed, and keep insisting. If your friend tries to give up, don't let him. If you try to give up, make him stop you."

"What, you think I'm some kind of pussy?" Jounouchi exclaimed, glaring at him.

Seth raised an eyebrow, frowning at him. "…I'd say you were more of a puppy than a cat…"

"…That's not what that means," the teen stated, miffed that he hadn't gotten through to him. "You know what? Never mind."

"…Humans really _are_ bizarre," the brunet sighed, then scowled again when he heard the calls for him growing more frantic. "Tch, like chickens with their heads cut off. I'm sure you'll be okay from here; just make sure not to get caught, and keep insisting for work. Okay?"

Jounouchi nodded. "Okay."

"_Master Seth!_"

Seth cringed, eyes wide; that shriek had nearly killed him! "Oh fuck—I have to go before they make me go deaf," he stated angrily. He paused, then reached up to brush the blond's hair out of his eyes, making him blush a little in embarrassment. "…Don't forget, Jounouchi-kun. I'm your friend."

As the brunet stood to leave, the teen frowned and grabbed his hand. "Wait, how did you know my name!"

The man frowned and tilted his head. "I don't know; I just did." He turned and looked down at the blond for a moment, then smirked. "Then again, your friend was screaming it a lot…"

"Shut up you bastard!" Jounouchi exclaimed angrily, his blush of embarrassment turning to one of anger. "Jerk!"

Seth chuckled and walked to the door leading inside. "Good luck." As he stepped inside, he sighed in annoyance. "Calm down, I'm right here." He took his shoes off before stepping inside. "Stop running around like idiots and screaming. I can hear you."

"Master Seth, Yu-Baaba-sama wants to see you!" one of the frog spirits exclaimed, reaching out to grab his shoes before he closed the door.

"Psh. Of course. It's about my mission, right?"

Jounouchi frowned and listened to the voices fade, then turned and looked at the little wooden door he knew he was supposed to go through. He was tempted to just stay there, thinking maybe if he waited long enough, he'd wake up. Then again, they'd been through some tough times before; he'd just push through this one too.

Crawling toward the door, he slipped outside, then looked around. He squeaked as he saw how high up he was and pressed himself up against the wall. Below, the train sped by, beneath a bridge, and the ground looked even further away than it had before. _'Heights. I __**hate**__ heights.'_

He took a few deep breaths, trying to work himself up for this, then edged over to the steps. …They looked safe enough… Thick, sturdy wood… Should be able to hold his weight… So everything should be… fine…

He gripped the wood slats on the wall tightly and tested the top step with his weight gingerly. When it didn't break, he placed his other foot down on it and timidly released the wall. He took another step down and felt a pang of anxiety—the wall was no longer close enough to grab onto, so it was either a straight plummet down if a step broke or over one of the sides of the stairs.

He was careful to stay in the middle of the stairs.

Jounouchi gulped and began his slow decent, arms moving outward to keep his balance. He just knew he was going to die. He was a klutz and he'd trip over his own feet; then, he would break his neck, fall off the steps, and be crushed on the ground. _Yuck._

"Nn… This isn't so bad," he whispered to himself, focusing on his feet. "I just have to watch where I'm going and I'll be fine."

Just as he put his foot down on the next step, however, it snapped beneath his weight, so he pitched forward with a yelp. He stumbled and tried to catch his balance, but then the stairs suddenly turned, so he stepped off the edge. He reached frantically for something to save him and latched onto the first thing his fingers came across.

Hanging from the side of the stairs, Jounouchi breathed quickly, nearly hyperventilating as he looked down at the ground so far below. He had almost died. ALMOST. DIED. As in, never see anyone again. DEATH.

Once he realized he was still hanging and might die anyway if he slipped, he hurriedly moved to pull himself back up onto the stairs. "Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck!" He flailed his legs wildly in an attempt to get back up only to whimper when he realized he was stuck; he'd gotten both his arms up, but getting the rest of his body up would be a problem.

Jounouchi yipped as he felt something beneath his feet pushing him upward and frantically scrambled onto the stairs, then turned in confusion to see what had happened.

Yami landed on the sides, his large, talon-tipped toes curling around it as if it were a branch. As a phoenix, he couldn't say much, but his gaze said enough: _"You were __**so**__ almost a pancake."_

The blond hugged his knees to his chest and shivered. He agreed; that had been much too close to death. He hid his face in his knees and shuddered; he so badly wanted to cry, but years of being beaten for shedding a tear had made him too careful to keep from crying, even when Yuugi and his mother had assured him that crying was okay, and the counselor he'd been assigned to had urged him to let it out.

Did those people not understand that being beaten for something was hard to forget? He loved his friend, and he adored Ashita, but sometimes he wished they could see the world through his eyes.

"Jounouchi-kun! Are you okay! I saw that!"

Jounouchi looked up quickly and couldn't help a smile of relief as he found his friend running up the stairs toward him. "Yuugi…"

Yuugi knelt next to him and frowned in concern. "That could have been a nasty fall. You're lucky Yami-san got worried it was taking you too long and came to check! …You're lucky I recognize your screams, too."

"I was not _screaming,_" the blond exclaimed indignantly.

The smaller teen stood up straight and tapped his chin lightly. "Hmm, that was a pretty high-pitched manly shout then."

Ah, normalcy.

Jounouchi growled playfully and pulled his friend into a headlock to give him a noogie. "Brat!"

The phoenix huffed before grabbing the backs of their jackets, one in each taloned grip, and flapped his wings a few times to gain altitude before gliding the rest of the way down to the boiler room door. His wings ached; he couldn't do this very often.

Jounouchi stumbled as his feet hit the ground, then turned to his friend—and, coincidentally, the phoenix. "Seth said that we need to go and ask the boiler man for work, and we can't take no for an answer, otherwise we'll be turned into animals by the bath-crone. So if I start to give up, you'll have to stop me, 'kay? And I'll do the same for you," he explained, and both the boy and the bird nodded. He scowled. "What are _you_ nodding for? You're not going in with us!"

Yami blinked in surprise, then shrugged and turned, spreading his wings as he leapt from the steps again. Both teens watched him go until he flew around the corner of the building and out of sight.

"…Okay," Yuugi agreed finally, turning back to him. "Let's go get jobs so we can save my mom and grandpa!"

"Right," Jounouchi agreed, then turned and opened the door.

They were met with a rush of hot air trying to escape. So that's why it was called the boiler room.


	3. Chapter 3

Author's Note: FAIL! The boiler man's name is spelled with two 'I's. WELL FINE. I've gone back and edited it in the second chapter as well. Stupid old boiler men and their stupid two 'I's. Humph.

Also. I LOVE THE RADISH SPIRIT! I love his little tail and his little red apron and his HAT. X**3 **His hat is love. But we're going to call him Oshira-sama like they do in the Japanese version. Mm 'kay? **:**D

Chapter 3

The boiler room was hot and humid, and both boys found themselves shrugging off their jackets and tying them around their waists. Even in just their t-shirts, they were still uncomfortable.

Jounouchi eyed all of the hot metal apparatuses nervously, then grabbed his friend's shoulders. "You go first, and I'll hold onto you so I don't trip and burn my face on something, okay?"

He really didn't want to go first, but Yuugi knew that the chances of the blond actually tripping and falling on something hot were actually pretty high. "Okay." He began walking toward the doorway that would take them to Kamajii, frowning when he realized that the man's shadow had too much movement for staying in one place. It just didn't seem right. "Hey, Jounouchi-kun, does that shadow look weird to you?"

The blond peeked over his hair and blinked innocently. "…It's like he's got extra long arms. Is that what you mean?"

"Yeah. Weird."

The two teens peered around the edge of the doorway and were awed by the large metal boiler, where the heat and humidity was coming from. Not many places used boilers anymore—then again, this bathhouse was not many places. Sitting in front of the boiler was an old man wearing dark glasses and having a large mustache, running a grinding wheel back and forth to crush whatever it was in his bowl. An empty bowl set to his left, and a large kettle sat behind him, and the platform he was propped up on was surrounded by various jars of herbs.

But what amazed them most was the susuwatari—the traveling soot—moving back and forth between the boiler and some holes in the opposing wall, carrying what surely had to be heavy blocks of coal to throw into the boiler.

"…They're kind of cute," Yuugi whispered, looking up at his friend, who nodded in agreement. He looked back over at the old man. "That must be Kamajii-san."

"Right. …We should go ask him for a job then," Jounouchi replied thoughtfully, frowning. "Remember, don't let me back down and I won't let you back down."

"Right," the smaller boy agreed, before they both moved outward.

They ducked back again when the old man's _third arm_ came around and pulled some herbs from the jar closest to them out to put into his grinding bowl. …Wait.

"That guy has six arms!" Jounouchi squeaked, pointing at him.

"M-maybe he's the spirit of some type of bug!" Yuugi replied, before they both tried to work themselves up to go out again.

They jumped as Kamajii pounded a wooden mallet on the platform, and the soot paused, then turned and moved back into the wall.

The smaller boy stepped further into the room and tapped his fingers together anxiously, then quietly called out, "Excuse me. Um… Excuse me!" When the old man turned his head, he opened his mouth to continue, but… Kamajii just took a few gulps of water from his kettle. "…Hey…"

Jounouchi scowled and crossed his arms. "Hey, old man!"

"Jounouchi-kun! How do you expect to get a job if you're rude?" Yuugi hissed, glaring at him. "Jeez!"

"…Fine. _Excuse me,_ old man!"

Yuugi sighed loudly. "…Jounouchi-kun…"

Their yells had done nothing to get the boiler man's attention; however, their bickering did. Turning toward them, Kamajii eyed them skeptically from behind his dark glasses. "…Humans…"

"Um, yeah." Jounouchi rubbed the back of his hear nervously. "…Um, Seth told us to come and ask you for work. Could you give us some jobs?" He winced as his friend elbowed him and quickly added, "Please?"

Kamajii blinked at them for a moment before frowning as he heard the jingle of a bath token's arrival. Turning back to face forward, he let out an indignant shout. "_Four_ bath tokens at once? Outrageous!" He grabbed his mallet and began knocking it against the metal wheel on the side of the platform he was sitting on. After grabbing some more herbs to put into his grinding bowl as another arm began cranking the wheel he'd just banged on, he sighed loudly. "Yeah, I'm Kamajii, slave to the boiler. _Move it, you stupid soot balls!_" He turned back to his work.

Yuugi frowned. "We need to get jobs here though please, Kamajii-san!"

"I don't need any help here," the old man snapped, turning to glare at them. "The whole place is full of soot! I just cast a spell on them and I've got all the workers I need." He pointed toward the holes in the wall again, and the two teens turned to look.

Jounouchi yelped as he tripped over a shoelace and crashed to the ground. "Ow!" The soot found him as a road block, however, and began squeaking at him angrily. He hurriedly scurried up onto the wooden floor and turned instead to watch them from there, taking a moment to tie his shoe so no other meetings with the ground would occur.

Yuugi squeaked as one of the soot balls ran into his foot and began squeaking at him. "Um, sorry! Let me just—" He lifted his foot so the soot ball could go around, but then another soot ball was in its place, squeaking again. He bit his bottom lip as he tried to find a place to put his foot, then jumped over a few soot balls and stumbled against the wall, where he came to a stop. "Eek!"

Kamajii reached down and grabbed some herbs, then reached back toward the wall. "Move aside!"

The younger teen squeaked and jumped onto the higher floor with his friend. The old man pulled the drawer out and grabbed some straw, then reached further up to grab some other herb.

Jounouchi sighed and rested his chin on his hand. "How are we supposed to get jobs if he doesn't need any help?"

Yuugi sighed as well and leaned his head on his hand. "…Hmm…" He turned to watch the susuwatari and settled for watching them until they could come up with another idea. He frowned as he heard one of the soot balls squeaking and turned his head, then gasped and pointed to it. "Squished-!"

"Ah?" The blond turned, then frowned. "…It should be able to pick it up, right?"

"I don't think so—I think he's stuck!" The smaller teen stood and hurried to pick up the coal, but nearly pitched over. "Heavy-!"

"Do you want help?" Jounouchi asked, frowning, as he got on his hands and knees and leaned forward to watch.

Yuugi shook his head firmly. "No, I can do this!"

"…Well, just tell me if you need it…"

The smaller boy grunted as he lifted the coal up, then frowned when he no longer saw the little soot ball. "Oh no…"

He had no need to worry. The soot ball popped back into view after gathering itself on the floor. It looked up at the boy, then began squeaking and fled back into the wall.

"H-hey! What should I do with this?" Yuugi called after it, but got no reply. He looked at the other soot balls, but they just avoided his gaze and began walking toward the boiler again, as they'd stopped to observe his rescue of the soot ball. He looked around at all of them in confusion, then sighed helplessly. "…Should I just leave it here…?"

Kamajii turned back to him. "Finish what you started, human!"

The teen looked up at him in surprise, then looked back at the coal. "Huh?" One of the soot balls squeaked on its way by. He turned to look at the boiler. "…Oh. Okay." He grunted again as he began to walk over to it, but had to stop a few times to adjust his grip; luckily, the soot balls were kind enough (or self-preserving enough) to move out of the way. Once he reached the metal step leading to the boiler, he hesitated. "…Jounouchi-kun, I need help."

"Mm, 'kay." Jounouchi stood and walked over to him, then frowned at the thin piece of metal leading to the boiler. "…You gotta be kidding me. Okay." He turned and took the piece of coal from him, then edged his way out onto the metal. He winced as the iron mouth of the boiler opened, sending a burst of heat and a small spray of sparks at him, then stepped a little closer. Once he was at the end of the ledge, he waited for the mouth to open before throwing it in and scampering back over to his friend.

But not before tripping over the evil shoelace that had _somehow_ managed to untie itself again.

"Owie!"

"Jounouchi-kun! …We should buy you some new shoes…"

The blond scowled as he sat up. "They're my trusty steeds! My shoelace just… likes to rebel every once in a while."

"You're weird, Jounouchi-kun." Yuugi shook his head but couldn't help a smile.

Both of their smiles faded, however, when they heard more frantic squeaking; another soot ball had buckled under the weight of the coal. Or… maybe it hadn't. Both Jounouchi and Yuugi blinked as the soot balls began to fall beneath their coal one by one, squeaking and squealing for help.

Jounouchi stood up and rubbed the back of his head, frowning. "…Should we…?"

"…Um…" Yuugi frowned back at him, then looked up at the old man inquisitively.

Kamajii banged his mallet on the platform and shook a fist at them. "Heeeey, you runts! You wanna be turned back into soot? And _you!_" He rounded on the two humans. "Back off! You can't just take someone else's job! If they don't work, the turn back into soot! There's no work for you here, got it? Go somewhere else!" He pointed to the door.

Jounouchi and Yuugi flinched, and it was then that the soot stood back up, bearing their coal again, and began shrieking at the old man—the boys could only assume they were arguing with him, judging by the little glares they sported. They began rushing at the human's feet, seemingly trying to bury them beneath coal as they squeaked.

The old man shouted at them again. "You soot balls have a problem! Get back to work!"

…They did not comply.

"Um—we could—I mean—_eeee!_" Yuugi looked up at his friend for help, but realized that was a bad idea. Jounouchi was barely able to keep his balance. Running the blond could handle; standing in one place for any significant amount of time? …Not so much.

"Chow time!" a feminine voice called out, and there was the sound of a door sliding closed. "What's going on? Are you guys fighting _again?_" A sigh. "You guys are hopeless." There was the sound of footsteps. "Where's your other bowl? From yesterday?" She sounded exasperated. "I keep telling you to leave it out, Kamajii."

Kamajii took the new bowl of food and looked around for his old one. Yuugi pointed at it. "There."

"Oh." He nodded slightly, then handed it to the feminine voiced person and turned toward the bath tokens in front of him. He yanked on them to send them back up. "Meal time, take a break!" And then he began eating with gusto.

The susuwatari dropped their coal where they stood and jumped toward the edge of their dipped area in the floor, chirping happily. Meal time may have been the only time the soot got along with the old man.

Both boys watched silently as a tall woman with wavy blond hair and violet eyes walk over to the edge of the floor, then squat down at the edge and put her hand into her basket. Seconds later, the soot balls were showered with Kompeitou; they appeared to love the small, star-shaped candy, as they danced and grabbed for as many pieces as they could.

The woman glanced over to them, then looked back at the soot. This was followed by a gasp as she looked back at them, both surprised and angry. "A human!" She stood up and pointed at them. "Two of them! You're in trouble—you're the ones everyone is looking for!"

The two boys flinched backward, and Jounouchi stumbled out from the middle of the pile of coal around his feet to get to his friend and nervously gather the shoulder of his shirt between his fingers. They were going to get it; this was the end!

"They're my grandsons."

Both the teens and the woman looked up at Kamajii in disbelief. The boys more so than the woman, of course.

She frowned in confusion. "Your grandsons?"

"They say they want to work," the old man explained. "But I've got all of the help I need. Will you take them to see Yu-Baaba? They're tough; I think they can handle it."

At this, the two teens looked up at him hopefully, but were shot down when the woman immediately replied, "No way! I'm not gonna risk my life!" She threw another handful of Kompeitou. "As if I'd ever do that!"

"What if I give you this roasted newt?" Kamajii asked, holding it out to her.

She scowled. "I wouldn't do it for a _million_ roasted newts!"

"What about this roasted newt and… this pickled toad?" Another hand was held out to her to show the pickled amphibian. As she eyed the two potential prizes, he turned to the boys to explain, "If you want jobs, you'll have to make a deal with Yu-Baaba. She's the head of the bathhouse."

"…Gimme those," the woman ordered, snatching both the newt and the toad from him. She turned a scornful gaze on the two teens. "Come on, little boys. You better follow me." Jounouchi and Yuugi flashed each other nervous smiles before hurrying to follow her. She placed the used bowls into the basket she'd been carrying the candy in and frowned. "Can't you two even manage a 'yes, ma'am,' or something?"

"Yes, ma'am!" they answered obediently.

She rolled her eyes and began walking away. "What dopes. Come on."

The teens hurried to take their shoes off in a neat but quick fashion, then moved to follow her, but she soon added, "You don't need your shoes _or_ your socks. Just leave them there."

"Yes, ma'am!"

"…Sorry you have to leave your trusty steeds," Yuugi mumbled, smiling a little.

Jounouchi shot him a playful glare. "Don't insult my steeds!"

"Hurry _up,_" the woman ordered, scowling at them.

The teens squeaked and scampered over to follow her out the door. "Yes, ma'am!"

She shot them another glare. "Thank the boiler man, you idiots! You know he's risking his neck for you!"

Jounouchi snapped his head around and yelped as he hit his skull on the wood. "Owie!" He covered the top of his head and growled in pain, then forced himself to bow. "Thank you Kamajii-san."

"…I'll take care of him," Yuugi stated, patting his friend on the head as he smiled at the suddenly unsure-looking old man. "Thank you, Kamajii-san!"

"Good luck!" he replied, giving them a thumbs up, before they slid out after the woman.

The woman sighed and rubbed the back of her head as she led them toward an elevator. "We have to go to the top floor. That's where Yu-Baaba lives."

"Okay." Both teens stopped in awe as they walked into a room full of large gears that controlled all of the different elevators. And by the looks of it, there were a great many elevators.

"Get over here!" she called, snapping them out of their awed state. They ran over to the elevator.

Jounouchi yelped as the elevator lurched and slipped, accidentally knocking the smaller boy over and—coincidentally—on top of him. "Ack!"

The woman rolled her eyes and shook his head. "Dopes."

"I'm not a dope, I'm just… clumsy," the blond argued, then frowned. "…Yuug', you're digging your elbow into my side."

"Oh! Sorry!"

The elevator lurched to a stop again, and the teens resumed their sprawled position on the floor. "_Meep!_"

She sighed again, then stepped off the elevator. She peered out of the alcove the elevator was in, then waved for them to follow her. "Come on."

Jounouchi's stomach rolled as they passed the kitchen; he was nervous and anxious—and his body knew it, even if he ignored it. He jumped a little when his friend tugged on his sleeve to see if he was okay, then sent him a small smile. He was okay. Or he would be. Always.

The woman peeked around a corner as another elevator stopped at their floor. Once she was sure the elevator was clear, she motioned for them to follow her as she hurried onto it. As she lifted the lever to make the elevator go up, she sighed. "We're halfway there. Just stay close and I'll make sure you don't get mobbed."

"Okay," Yuugi answered, then frowned as his friend sighed. "Jounouchi-kun? Are you okay?"

"…'m fine…" Jounouchi answered softly, even though he was being overwhelmed by guilt again; it was his fault they were in this mess.

The smaller boy tapped his arm gently. "Everything's gonna be okay. I'll make sure you don't give up, and you'll make sure I don't give up, right?"

The blond hesitated before nodding firmly. "Right."

The woman sighed as they neared the end of their ride. "Here we go." She yelped as they were immediately faced with a… person… spirit…

…It was a Daikon radish. A breathing, walking white radish. With a red hat. …And a little red apron.

"…My eyes will bleed until the day I die," Jounouchi stated, and his friend elbowed him sharply.

"_Jounouchi-kun!_"

The woman laughed nervously as the radish spirit pointed upward and made a sound that… must be some sort of intelligent language to _someone._ "Oshira-sama! I'm sorry, sir, this elevator doesn't go any higher. You'll have to take another one. Thank you." She then led them past the giant walking radish with a hat to another elevator.

The woman led them away, but they turned to look in confusion when they heard a low pound followed by a squeak. The radish spirit was following them.

"He's following us," Jounouchi whispered, patting her shoulder nervously.

She nodded. "Just don't look at him."

"'kay."

It was sort of hard though. …It had a red hat.

Stopping in front of another elevator, she hit the button to go up and waited patiently for it to arrive—after shoving the two teens to stay behind her and mostly out of sight. "…I _said_ don't look at him," she hissed, and casually stomped on the blond's foot.

"…But he's wearing a hat!"

"I'm gonna hat you into a _wall_ if you don't _listen_ to me."

"Nyo!"

The elevator arrived and the doors parted to show a bunch of cow goblins. "Step off to the right, gentlemen," a voice said, and the antlered spirits stepped off the elevator, mumbling to each other about the accommodations. A frog spirit followed after them, smiling ingratiatingly. "Your rooms are right this way."

He sniffed the air suddenly, then turned back. "Hmm. Mai!"

"Wha-_aaat?_" she complained, turning back to him as she casually shoved the two teens onto the elevator. The radish spirit stepped on after them, hiding them from view of the frog.

The frog spirit looked offended. "What's that _smell?_" He sniffed in front of her, then blinked in surprise. "It's human. You smell just like a human!"

"Oh _really?_" Mai rolled her eyes.

He narrowed his eyes at her. "Where is it coming from, Mai? You're hiding something, I know it!" He sniffed again. "Show it to me."

She sighed, then dug around in the front pouch of her shirt, where she'd stored her prizes for showing the humans up. Drawing out the roasted newt, she held it up for him to see. "Is this what you smell?"

He gasped. "Roast—" He slurped. "—Newt!" He reached forward to snatch it, but Mai was too quick for him and instead drew it out of his reach.

"No way, frog. This is _my_ newt," she taunted, wagging it at him as she smirked. She put it within his reach just long enough for him to jump for it before drawing it back up.

The frog reached for it anyway. "Please, just let me have a bit! Just a leg?"

"Ha, _no._" Looking over her shoulder, she added, "If you want to go up, pull the lever on your right!"

The radish made a noise. Seeing that he wouldn't do it, Yuugi wriggled forward and just barely pulled it down. "Nngh-!"

As soon as the lever was pulled, the doors to the elevator slid closed. The teens saw Mai smirk before shoving the newt into her mouth and smiling smugly at the frog.

…She was pretty cool, in a mean sort of way.

On the journey upward, the radish spirit lifted his arm in favor of resting his… hand… on the wall, allowing the two teens to have some personal space. …Well, as personal as they could get when crammed into a small box with a giant white radish.

The elevator stopped, showing a long hallway lined with rice paper walls. The silhouettes of different spirits could be seen through the screens, and the low rumble of different voices actually sounded a little comforting. They all stared down it for a moment before the radish spirit pulled the lever again, so they went upward again.

Jounouchi glanced up at the radish spirit in what he hoped was a stealthy manner. When the spirit glanced back at him, however, he knew he had failed miserably at any hope of furtiveness. So, he went with the truth.

"…I really like your hat."

The radish spirit raised his brows, then looked forward again.

Yuugi turned and raised an eyebrow at his friend. "…Jounouchi-kun."

"I'm _sorry_ I got distracted by his awesome hat!"

"…"

"Don't look at me like that!"

The doors opened again, and the radish spirit took a few steps forward to look about. The teens followed and looked both ways down the dim halls, before their eyes landed on the two pairs of crimson doors to their rights. That's where they were supposed to go, for sure.

Stepping out further, the teens stared at the doors. This was it.

The radish spirit stepped back into the elevator, then bowed a little. Jounouchi and Yuugi bowed back, then turned to look at the doors they needed to go through as the elevator doors closed on the radish spirit again.

"…So we go through there, then?" Yuugi asked softly.

Jounouchi nodded. "Yup."

"…I'll make sure you don't give up if you promise the same for me."

"Promise."

"…Jounouchi-kun, I'm scared."

The blond sighed. "I am too. …Let's go."

"…You know, if she does turn us into animals, you could ask her for a hat like the radish spirit's," the smaller teen added.

"I'm easily distracted, okay?" Jounouchi snapped, glaring at his friend, but when Yuugi began to laugh, he had to chuckle too.


	4. Chapter 4

Author's Note: What? It took me how long to update? _Lies!_

Anyway. I have found a link so that you can watch the movie in thirty-minute segments. Just private message me and I'll send you the link, mm 'kay?

Chapter 4

Jounouchi tapped his fingers together nervously as they both stared up at the bright red doors. "…So… This is it."

"…Yup," Yuugi agreed softly, more than just a little intimidated by the door.

"…I won't let you give up and you won't let me give up?"

"…Yup."

"…Yuug', if we don't make it through this, I just want you to know that I'm really sorry," the blond explained, frowning.

Yuugi looked up at him in confusion. "…Sorry for what?"

"This… it's… It's all my fault. Your mom and grandpa thought a vacation would help me feel better, and look where it got us." The blond sighed quietly, shoulders sagging. "I really am just a pain in the ass."

Scowling, the smaller teen stomped on his foot. "Don't say that! None of this is your fault! And if it's anyone's fault, it's your mother's for leaving you with that incompetent _asshole_ who was never a father much less a good one!"

"Ow, ow, ow! That hurt, Yuug'!"

"_Good!_ It was supposed to!" Yuugi huffed and crossed his arms, glaring at him. "I don't want to hear anything about this being all your fault anymore! Or… or else I'll step on your foot harder!"

"No, no, no! I'm done feeling responsible!" Jounouchi assured, taking a few steps back.

His friend still glared "And no more of this 'if' stuff, okay? We're _going_ to make it through this and we're _going_ to save my mom and grandpa! Do I make myself absolutely clear?"

The blond nodded quickly; there were just some points in time that you didn't mess with Yuugi.

"…Good. Then let's go get jobs," Yuugi ordered, turning back to the door. They stared at it for a few moments before he looked back up at him. "…Should we knock?"

"_It has to be a question?"_ the door knocker shrieked, making the two boys spring back (and Jounouchi to stumble and fall). _"You're the rudest little boys I've ever seen!"_

As the two humans gaped at the talking (but now silent) knocker, the ornate red doors swang open, showing three more sets of equally decorated doors doing the same, leaving a straight path open to them. The chandeliers between each set of doors lit and exposed the walls to be decoratively carved in red and gold.

"Well, come in," an old woman's voice ordered, but the two teens were still too stunned to move. The woman—obviously the person they were supposed to find, Yu-Baaba—was not patient. "I said come _in._"

Yuugi yelped as he was propelled forward by an invisible grip on his shirt, and from the snarl he heard from his friend, he assumed that he'd been grabbed too. As they were jerked forward and brought flying, each door slammed shut and locked behind them, leaving them totally at her mercy.

Jounouchi snarled as they were yanked down a corner and were nearly given whiplash, struggling against the pull with all of the power and energy he had. They were moving toward a pair of wooden door as great deal less decorated, but still foreboding—and then the doors opened and suddenly the forces pulling them released them, leaving him to do a frantic flip before he landed on his back, flipped again, and smacked his face into the carpet. All of his breath was knocked out of him.

Any air he tried to refill his lungs with was promptly kicked back out as his friend landed on him and rolled a few more feet before coming to an equally stunned stop beside him. "Uh-!"

Yuugi sat up in confusion, shaking his head, before gasping and hurriedly crawling over to him. "Jounouchi-kun, I'm sorry!"

"Mmmgh…" The blond gurgled breathlessly, only to find himself horrified as three green heads began bouncing toward them. He struggled to at least get on his hands and knees, but the heads weren't threatening; just extremely lacking in the knowledge of personal space. …Not that Jounouchi had the right to talk.

Growing disinterested with the two humans, the heads rolled/hopped/somersaulted back over to the desk, where the boys saw a short but… wide woman with a large nose and even larger hair. They understood why she was called the bath crone now.

Once Jounouchi had gained his breath back, the two teens stood and looked at her uncomfortably, wondering what they should do. Finally, the blond got tired of the awkward silence. "Um… Excuse me?"

The old woman glanced up at him for a moment, then made a zipping motion with her hand. "Be quiet; I never said you could talk."

The blond let out a muffled squeak of surprise and grabbed at his face, but couldn't manage to pry his lips apart. Panicking, but more angry than anything, the smaller boy turned toward her and scowled. "Hey! We just wanted to ask you to give us jobs! That's no reason to do that to Jounouchi-kun!"

Yu-Baaba laughed. "Jobs? I don't even want to hear such a stupid request! Why would I ever give jobs to a couple of lazy, stupid humans? This is a well-respected bathhouse—no place for some stinking, weak humans."

"Hey, we're not stupid, lazy, or weak!" Yuugi exclaimed angrily. His only reward was his mouth being zipped shut as well.

"This is a bathhouse for the spirits," she continued, as if he'd never interrupted. "They come here to replenish themselves. And you humans, you always make a mess of things." She put a cigarette into her mouth and lit it. "Like your family, who gobbled up the food of the spirits like pigs. They got what they deserved." She paused in thought, then nodded. "And you should be punished, too."

Jounouchi growled loudly and made a violent motion with his arm—but his friend was quick to smack him in the back of the head. "Mm!"

Yu-Baaba laughed at his obvious frustration. Snorting out a lungful of smoke, she hummed thoughtfully. "You could be piglets. Or…" She laughed again. "Perhaps you'd prefer a lump of coal?"

The blond growled again and took a step toward her, but Yuugi grabbed his arm and yanked him back, scowling at him. "Hm-mm!"

The bath crone laughed again, and the two teens thought that she was getting much too much humor out of the situation. "Actually, I have the perfect animal in mind for you!"

Yuugi gasped in horror as his friend suddenly began shrinking in front of him and growing fur. She'd just turned his best friend into a dog! The blond himself was looking down at his paws and too-big clothes in confusion. Looking up at the old woman again, he found her making the same hand motion at him, and suddenly the world was bigger and he felt the strangest need to clean himself.

Jounouchi blinked at the small cat that was now his friend, then turned a glare on the woman now laughing at him. However, it seemed that this spell had released his mouth, so he curled his lips back and snarled.

Yu-Baaba looked back at the two boys and raised an eyebrow, then scowled when she realized the pup was baring his teeth at her. "Is there something you'd like to say to me?"

The blond growled loudly and crouched, then leapt forward onto her desk and began clawing at various papers and knocking things off of it. When she let out an enraged shriek and threw a handful of fire at him, he scampered off of the desk in favor of rushing past a large standing lamp, knocking it with his shoulder and causing it to tumble to the ground and shatter.

Yuugi hissed as the three heads began coming back to investigate him and scratched at the first one that get close enough. The heads were offended by this and began bouncing around him, leaving him to scamper out of the way and go on the defensive instead of being on the attack. He was rescued, however, when the blond circled back, bashing his skull against one of the heads and sending it flying.

Jounouchi snarled at the heads before turning a glare on the old woman, barking one short, sharp word. _"JOB!"_

"Fine, fine! Just stop tearing around and ruining everything!" the woman shrieked, standing up. "Just stop making a ruckus! You'll wake the baby!"

The blond didn't respect a lot of things, but he did respect a sleeping baby. He stood over his friend protectively, only to trip over the leg of the jeans that were still stuck around his waist by a belt and fall to land on his chin. Yuugi sighed and shook his head.

Moments later they were human again, and Jounouchi still tripped over his pant leg. While they struggled to redress, the old woman began cleaning up her office with a few waves of her hands. "I can't believe I even took that oath, to give anyone who asked a job." She huffed loudly, so she didn't hear the blond's outraged squawk—though whether the squawk was because of what she had said or because he'd found that the tail and ears on both he and his friend had failed to disappear was something to debate.

The two humans blinked in confusion when they found two pieces of paper and ink brushes floating in front of them, then grabbed them and began reading them over. "So… do we just sign our names here?" Yuugi asked, pointing to a spot on the paper, and when Yu-Baaba nodded, they began signing their names.

Just as they finished signing, the contracts slipped out from under their brushes. Jounouchi eyed the old woman suspiciously. He decided he didn't much like her. Especially since he now had _dog ears!_

"Hmm, so you're Jounouchi Katsuya and Mutou Yuugi." She eyed their names for a moment before pulling up some of the kanji so only one simple one was left on their contracts. "Your names are mine now. Your new names are Jou and Yuu. Got it?"

The two teens looked at each other in confusion before nodding slowly. "Yes, ma'am."

It hadn't stung so much to call Mai 'ma'am.' This lady was mean.

"You called for me?"

Jou almost got whiplash turning his head, before he turned back to his friend and frowned in confusion. Yuu shrugged helplessly, so they both turned back to watch the scene unfold.

Seth crossed his arms and scowled. "I don't like being made to wait."

"You'll wait if I want you to wait!" Yu-Baaba exclaimed, glaring at him, before waving the issue away. "These boys signed a contract. Set them up with a job."

The brunet sighed slowly, then nodded. "Right." He turned a cold, uncaring stare on them. "What are your names?"

"Joun— Uh… Jou."

"Yuu."

He nodded again. "Alright, Jou, Yuu. Follow me."

Jou wanted to stick around and make the old crone give him back his real ears—Yuu's, too—but he had a feeling that the action would not be received kindly. So, he paused for the smaller teen to grab his sleeve before obediently walking after him.

Once they were in the safety of the elevator and the doors had closed, Seth sighed and leaned back against the wall. "Stupid old crone. I hope you choke on your cigarette." He glanced at the two humans, then smirked a little. "I see you made her lose her temper a little. She would have only turned you into animals if you appeared a threat. You look cute like that."

"Shut up! I don't want these!" Jou exclaimed, yanking on one of the golden ears. "Make them go away!"

Seth laughed, but they couldn't tell if he was mocking them or whether he was just amused. "I can't. I don't have that power. Yu-Baaba will do it when she wants to." His face sobered. "Until then, when we're around others, don't talk to me. And address me as 'Seth-sama.' It wouldn't do for people to think I was favoring you."

Yuu tilted his head innocently. "…_Are_ you favoring us?"

The brunet seemed to ponder the question for a few moments, then shrugged. "I don't know. Am I?"

"I'll kill you," Jou hissed, glaring at him, before he was startled by his friend laughing. "What?"

"I was just thinking-! You could have asked Oshira-sama for a hat like his and looked really cute as a dog!" the smaller teen exclaimed, then began laughing again.

The blond smiled but still answered, "Shut up! It's a really cool hat!"

Seth raised an eyebrow at them, then rolled his eyes and stood up straight as the elevator shuddered to a stop. "Humans are weird. Remember—don't talk to me, and address me as 'Seth-sama.'"

At the brunet's suddenly sober countenance, the two teens felt any hopes of laughter flood out of them, so they merely nodded and followed as he began down some stairs, heading toward a desk where two men who looked as if they were running things were sitting.

They weren't frogs. In fact, they actually looked more like Yuu, with their cat ears and tails. One of them was tall and built sort of like Jou, as if he'd been a street rat before. He was wearing teal robes and watching them warily, his brown eyes drifting away when Jou tried to meet them, and he found that he wasn't as upset about that as he usually might have been. Meeting eyes got you in fights.

The other one looked sleeker and more pampered than the brunet, as if he'd been inside his whole life—an indoor cat, if you will, dressed in yellow robes. He had long black hair pulled back into a ponytail and intense green eyes, which Jou decided he could do without as he casually took a step to block Yuu from his view, as he was leering at him in a way that made them both uncomfortable.

Seth didn't waste time—not even for pleasantries. "What do you have for them, then?"

The raven-haired feline looked up at him sharply, surprised, before he narrowed his eyes in distaste. "Are you suggesting I give these _humans_ jobs? I don't think so."

The brunet fixed him with his own glare. "They've already signed contracts. Do you want to chance angering Yu-Baaba?"

"Whoa! Yu-Baaba actually gave them contracts?" the brunet exclaimed, which started off a torrent of whispers—about how _their_ department wouldn't take them because they smelled so bad, or how _they_ couldn't take them because they'd be too clumsy, or how they'd die within minutes of being taken onto a job.

"We promise we'll work very hard," Yuu stated, bowing slightly. "If you'll just give us a chance."

The brunet turned a glare on all of the whispering spirits watching them. "Three days of eating our food and they'll lose that smell. Besides, if they don't work hard enough, boil or roast them. I'm sure they taste better than they smell."

Jou and Yuu gasped and looked up at him in horror. "Eat us-!"

"Oh for the love of—Where's Mai?" Seth asked in exasperation, temple beginning to throb with an oncoming headache.

"Hey! Why are ya dumpin' 'em on me!" she exclaimed, standing up straight from where she was leaning against the wall. "I can't take them anyway! They're boys!"

The brunet shrugged. "They're pretty like girls. Just give them the women's uniform and they'll look like flat-chested girls."

"Hey!" Jou exclaimed, glaring at him, but his friend hurriedly shushed him.

Mai sighed in frustration, then rolled her eyes. "Oh, whatever. Fine, I'll take them."

"You _did_ say you wanted an assistant," the brown-haired cat replied, smiling good-naturedly.

The blond scowled as the other feline leaned over to look at his friend again, then leaned down so they were face to face and curled his lip up to sneer at him. "You got something you wanna say to me?"

The raven-haired cat jerked backward, startled, then quickly waved his hands in a placatory manner. "Oh, no! Just looking!"

"…Don't," Jou ordered shortly, and his tone made it clear that that went not only for the felines, but for everyone there.

"Come on," Mai ordered, grabbing the blond's ear and beginning to drag him away. "Before you get into something you can't handle."

"Owie!"

Yuu stayed only long enough to give Seth a short bow before he hurried after them. "Thank you, Seth-sama!"

Mai dragged the puppyish blond out into the hall, then suddenly released him and turned toward them, smiling proudly. "I didn't really expect you guys to do it! I mean, you're so clumsy—and you're not exactly the shiniest gold in the pile," she added, poking Jou playfully on the nose. "Now, if you need anything, don't hesitate to ask, okay? I'll look out for both of you as well as I can." She smirked. "And that's pretty well, because the only ones I don't have seniority over are Otogi and Honda, so the only ones you have to watch out for are Seth, Yu-Baaba, and Otogi.

"Honda's a pretty cool guy, and you've already earned his respect by sticking up for you and your friend—and he just can't help liking a fellow cat. Now, keep on your toes, okay? Just because _I'm_ looking out for you doesn't mean that everyone else is going to make it easy for you."

"…Okay," the two boys replied, before the blond made a face reminiscent of a child tasting his first lemon. "…Do we really have to wear that pink outfit?"

Mai sighed and waved it away. "It's the girl's uniform, and you're going to be my assistants, so everyone needs to believe you're girls. Besides, Seth was right; you're pretty like girls, so you can pull it off."

"Do I look like a girl?" Jou exclaimed, scowling.

She glared at him. "Well not when you make that stupid face! Why can't you look cute like your friend?"

"Jou-kun only looks cute when he's asleep or confused," Yuu explained helpfully.

"Yuu! You should be on my side!"

"…But it's true."

"_Yuu!_"


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Jou shivered and bit his bottom lip, trembling a little as he listened to the different women breathing in and out around him. At first, the women had protested a lot—loudly. However, when they'd seen Jou and Yuu blush brightly and carefully keep their eyes on their feet, they decided they didn't mind—especially when Jou took off his shirt.

Even the women of the bathhouse could appreciate his musculature.

Quaking even more violently, he turned and looked over at his friend. When he realized that Yuu looked just as emotionally and physically drained as he did, he tried to discretely wriggle under his friend's quilt. He wormed around for a few moments, but eventually came to a stop as he curled his body around Yuu's smaller one.

Yuu looked up at him and frowned, then sighed and snuggled closer. "Nightmares, Jou-kun?"

"…Yeah," the blond answered quietly, curling closer to him.

"Okay," the cat-eared boy sighed, wrapping an arm around his waist. "Go back to sleep."

"…'kay." He closed his eyes and let loose a heavy sigh, whimpering a little as he tried to comfort himself with his friend's warmth.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seth raised an eyebrow as he heard a bunch of giggling from the women's quarters, then frowned as he heard a few of the girls whispering about 'how cute they were.' What were they doing? …Did he even want to know? Sighing, he shook his head and tapped on the door.

"Decent?"

"Oh-! Just a second!"

Seth listened to the sound of frantic scuffles and a few more giggles and frowned in concern. What was going _on_ in there?

A few seconds later, the door slid open, and he was met with bright, giggling eyes. "Master Seth, you have to come see this!"

He raised an eyebrow as he was pulled into the room, then blinked as he was led over to a corner where Mai was sitting, gently carding her fingers through thick blond hair.

The two humans were cuddled up together on a single futon, the blanket curled around them tightly to show just how close they were melded together. Even though Jou was the larger of the two, his head was tucked meekly underneath his friend's, and every once in a while, his body would be shaken by a small tremor. Yuu was hugging his friend protectively but otherwise didn't move, except for once in a while wiggling his nose when the blond's hair fluttered against it.

Seth shook his head quickly and frowned as he felt a pang of jealousy surge through him, then turned to Mai. "Mai, Yami wants a bath, but he's requested you especially. That means…" He let his eyes trail down to the two humans curled up together and couldn't help a slightly annoyed scowl. "…That they go, too. He'll be waiting at the usual bath."

"Ugh! That stupid phoenix is taking that 'early bird catches the worm' thing way too far!" the blonde exclaimed, throw her hands up in frustration. "Has Kamajii even lit the boilers yet?"

"You know Yami; he's early enough to piss everyone off but not early enough that the boilers aren't lit," the man replied, then turned to go. "Make sure they're wearing their uniforms and _try_ to keep them from saying anything insulting to him. Yami's calm, but that blond's got a temper like a firecracker."

He didn't know why he knew that; it wasn't as if he had seen it himself, really. Just a few short bursts of frustration. And he didn't know why he got so jealous when he saw Jounouchi and Yuugi curled up together. He had no reason to be. And he had no reason to feel protective of either of them, either. Really, who was he to say they could or could not snuggle?

Seth looked down at the card in his hand and traced the delicate writing on it, wondering vaguely who Anzu was, and if he'd be jealous of her as well if he'd seen them together. He couldn't explain his feelings or his knowledge about Jounouchi, and it bothered him more than he would have liked to admit.

He let out a grunt as a flash of blond hair and another flash of red hair crossed his vision and he heard the innocent laughter of children. Just as quickly as it was there it was gone, leaving only a dull throbbing in the back of his head.

"…Jeez…" Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he shoved the card into his pocket and continued walking. Perhaps it was best not to think about Jounouchi and Yuugi.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

"Hungry…" Jou complained, stomach rumbling loudly in protest as they dragged themselves down the hall to the bath they were needed at.

"We'll get breakfast after we help Yami with his bath," Mai stated, smacking the back of his head. "Now stop complaining; we don't want to insult our guest."

Yuu frowned. "I can't imagine he'll be too hard to bathe…"

She shot him a sour look. "He's got _feathers._"

"Oh. …Yeah, I can see that."

"Right. Okay, that's the bath that Yami always uses," the blonde explained, pointing to one in the far corner. "You go meet him while I get a bath token. He's picky about what sort of salts and herbs go on his feathers." She gave them both a pat on the head. "We're lucky you guys don't need to change the pitch of your voices. Yami doesn't care who helps as long as someone helps to dry his feathers."

Jou and Yuu blinked at her before glancing at each other. Yami sounded just… mean right now. Well, perhaps they should get going, or else Mai might come back and slap them in the head.

Making their ways to the indicated bath, they peered inside to find the crimson bird preening himself, his long, sharp beak combing through a few feathers at a time. They hesitated a moment before continuing into the partitioned bath.

Yuu smiled as brightly as he could while nervous. "Hi, Yami-san!"

Yami lifted his head and blinked at them slowly before the corners of his beak began curling upward in an avian smile. He let out a pleased rumbled and reached out to preen the younger boy's hair, gurgling out a noise that sounded strangely like 'Yuu-iiiii.'

The smaller boy's smile became more genuine then as he laughed, pushing him away. "We're supposed to be cleaning _you,_ Yami-san!"

The bird huffed and clicked his beak in disapproval, then let out an angry screech when he saw the black tail twitching behind his human look-alike. "_Yuuiiii!_"

"It's not like it's _our_ fault!" Jou exclaimed, scowling. "I mean, jeez! It was all that old biddy's fault!" He yelped as a hand connected with the back of his head and groaned. "Ow…"

"You know she has ears all over the place, right?" Mai hissed, glaring at him, before sighing in frustration. "Ugh, humans." She turned her glare on the startled looking phoenix. "And _you!_ Would it _kill_ you to come after we've had our breakfasts!" As the giant bird shrugged his wings nervously, looking a little penitent, she sighed and shook her head. "Oh, never mind. Let's just get this over with."

Yuu and Jou glanced at each other nervously before jumping to follow her as she motioned for them to come. Walking over to the wall, she put her hand against it and turned toward them. "Just for future reference, you open this panel—" She gave the wall a good thump with her fist, making the small door pop open. "And you use this string to attach the bath token," she explained, using the metal clip to grab onto the small hole at the top of the token.

"Well that seems convenient," Yuu commented, leaning forward to look a little closer.

"It's better than running all the way down to Kamajii and telling him 'we need this sort of water in this bath,'" Mai agreed, tugging on the string to make sure the token was secured before giving the token a yank. The token disappeared into the paneling with a cheery 'zip' and was sent to Kamajii. "This gets the bath token to Kamajii, and he sends us the water we need."

The two boys turned as some more paneling broke away from its brethren in time to see what looked like a large sluice with a rope dangling from the end lowering to aim into the empty bath. Mai walked past them to step up on the side of the tub and grabbed onto the rope, turning back to them. "You yank on this rope to get the water to come out—" She gave the rope a firm tug, and pink-tinted water began pouring out into the tub. "And you just yank it again to stop it."

Jou peered into the water and wrinkled his nose. "Ugh, what's in this?"

"You know, I'm not quite sure," the older blonde replied, frowning. "Kamajii made it especially for Yami, but he won't tell anyone what's in it."

Yami fluffed his feathers proudly, like a happy cockatoo, then hopped up to the edge of the tub and delicately tested the water with one of his talon-tipped toes (to which Yuu and Jou began giggling). Deeming the water not hot enough to burn him, he hopped from the edge of the tub and into the water. He let out a happy coo and shook himself, fluffing his feathers again, before gathering a beak full of water and tossing it into the air to shower down on him.

Once he'd floundered around to his content, he hopped up on the side of the bath and fluffed himself again.

Mai groaned. "_Yami,_ you're getting water _everywhere!_ We're going to have to clean this up now!" Yami blinked at her, then leaned toward her and began preening her hair. She slapped his beak away playfully. "Don't mess with my hair, bird-brain."

The phoenix huffed, then fluffed his feathers again, only this time he shook himself, nearly drying out all of his feathers anyway—and making a bigger mess. _**"Kwee!"**_

"Oh, you _bastard!_" she roared, throwing her towel at him. "See if we ever help you again!"

Yami huffed again, then turned and spat a mouthful of fire into the tub, drying up all the water and leaving only a thin layer of grime in its wake. Then, he held out his foot, something clenched between his toes. Confused, she held her hand out, only to yelp and drop the burning hot gold as soon as it fell into her hand. "Ow!"

The phoenix's shoulders seemed to tremble with laughter for a moment before he turned and gave each boy watching them a gently rub on the head with his beak. Then, he took flight, leaving a stream of smoke in his wake as he let out a screech and flew out the open doors.

"…I _hate_ him," Mai growled, glaring after him, before stooping to grab the gold the bird had left behind. "At least we don't have to drain the tub now."

"Yeah, that was pretty nice of him," Yuu agreed, then looked up at her innocently. "So what do we do now?"

"_You,_" she began, grabbing his shoulder and steering him toward the tub. "—Are going to scrub out the tub. Get all that sludge out. _Jou_ is going to start mopping up this mess," she added, pointing toward the floor. "At least all these towels are here for _something._"

Jou frowned as she turned to leave. "Where are _you_ going?"

"_I'm_ gonna go get us some breakfast," she replied, just before she turned the partition and was blocked from view.

Yuu and Jou blinked after her for a moment, then shrugged and began going about their assigned tasks. Pretty soon, the tub had to be drained of the yucky gunk, but luckily, Mai was there by that time and was willing to allow them to take a break and eat while she took care of the gunk.

They were startled by the presence of Seth once they were nearly finished. The brunet glanced over the bath casually, then the floor, before looking back at the trio waiting to find out what the hell he was doing there. "When you're finished here, Mai, Otogi wants to talk to you. He was blathering on about something he thought was important; I really wasn't listening. I get the feeling it was private, though."

Mai frowned. "What am I going to do with these two, then?"

"…I did not think of that." Seth tilted his head slightly, then shrugged carelessly. "I'll keep an eye on them. Yu-Baaba is gone right now, so I don't have anything to do."

"Right. …Boys, behave," she ordered, patting both Yuu and Jou on the head, before turning to leave. "I'll be back soon and then we'll go ask Honda what he wants us to do next."

The two humans glanced at each other before calling out a quick, "Okay!"

Seth waited for a few moments before turning to go. "Follow me. Now."

Yuu glanced up at his friend nervously, but was instantly reassured when the blond made a fist and smacked the palm of his open hand with it. He was glad his friend was so tough.

Jou was just glad that Mai wasn't there, so if he wanted to hit the guy, she wouldn't slap him in the back of the head. Though they were both sort of confused when they were led down to the boiler room.

Seth spared the boiler man only a glance before continuing to the door leading outside. Then again, Kamajii _did_ look rather busy, as the baths were now being filled and it was a miracle that they hadn't been given more work immediately after cleaning up after Yami's bath.

Looking down at the floor that was covered with working susuwatori, the boys paused. "…Our shoes are gone…"

A few of the soot balls looked up at them on their way back toward the holes in the wall, then began squeaking and scurried back inside. They returned later with more of their companions, holding two pairs of sneakers above their little bodies. Their socks had been tucked inside their shoes neatly—except for the tiny black dots where the soot balls had touched them.

"Oh. …Thank you!" Yuu exclaimed cheerfully, smiling, as he took his sneakers and pulled out his socks. Foregoing the cloth foot-coverings, he shoved his feet into his shoes and run to hurry toward the door, where Seth was waiting impatiently for them.

Jou blinked as he examined his shoes, then smiled gratefully and took them. "You guys fixed my shoelaces. Thanks!" He glanced around suspiciously, then dug his hand into his pocket, pulling out a small amount of candy stars. "I snuck these from the kitchen."

The soot balls chirped happily and hurried to grab a star from his hand, then fled inside the holes in the wall so none of the other susuwatori could try and fight for them.

The blond smiled in amusement and shoved his shoes on, then hurried over to where his friend and Seth were. Yuu smiled at him and opened the door, knowing better than to comment; his friend was easily embarrassed. Seth, however, didn't know that.

Raising an eyebrow, the brunet asked, "What the hell was that?"

Jou blinked at him, then stuck his nose up in the air and walked past him. "I have no idea what you're talking about!"

Seth blinked, stunned by the blatant disrespect—and the horribly told lie! He hadn't even tried! Worst lie ever!

"…Seth-san, are you coming?" Yuu called after a moment. When the disgruntled brunet stepped out, and he glanced up at the nonchalant Jou, he sighed. "Don't worry; he does that a lot."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"What is this place?" Yuu asked, once they'd been led to a large, wooden building, where loud, low squawks were coming from.

Seth sighed and ran a hand through his hair, then slid the door open. Jou and Yuu both gasped in horror as they saw all of the pens full of pigs, but then—there was one pig with distinctly spiky bangs!

"Grandpa!" Yuu exclaimed, running inside. He grabbed onto the rail of his mother and grandfather's pen and leaned in. "Hey! Mom, Grandpa, are you okay?" When they didn't even move, he leaned a little further over the rail. "Mom! Grandpa! _HEY!_"

An ear twitched, but that was basically the only movement.

"What's wrong with them?" he asked quickly, turning back to the brunet that had been watching him with an expression almost like sympathy.

Seth shrugged. "They ate too much. Now they're sleeping it off. They don't remember being human." His expression hardened into a stern scowl. "That's why it's up to you to remember. Memorize what they look like."

Jou bit his bottom lip and took a step back, tail curling up between his legs as his ears folded back in shame. This was all his fault. If he hadn't let his father beat him up, then Yuu's mother never would have called the police, he never would have had to testify against his father, and he wouldn't have troubled the small family so they wouldn't have had to go on vacation! It was all his fault that all of these bad things had happened to his friend and his family!

He let out a small whimper and took another step back, lifting a hand to cover his mouth as he watched his best friend talking to his parents, assuring them that they'd be okay, because he was going to get them out no matter what he had to do. He felt his heart bypass his stomach and drop all the way to his toes; he felt like the lowest of the low, the scummiest scum of the earth. Because all of this had happened because of him.

Yuu sniffed and rubbed his eyes quickly; now was not the time to cry, especially if he didn't want Jou feeling guilty. He knew his friend wasn't exactly the most confident person—his father had taken care of thrashing any self-esteem he had—so he had to make sure he remained strong for both of them. Once he'd composed himself, he turned, then frowned in confusion.

"…Where's Jou?"

Seth blinked in surprise, then turned; the blond had been not even a full three feet behind him last time he'd checked. He was usually very aware of his surroundings. Why, then, had he missed the human leaving? "…Shit."

"What's shit?" Yami asked, coming up along the side of the building. He frowned when he saw the concerned expression on the other man's face. "…Seth?"

"Will you stay with Yuu while I go find Jou?" the brunet asked, sighing in frustration, before he began walking away. He trusted Yami would stay and protect his look-alike.

Yami blinked as he watched the man go, then turned toward Yuu and frowned. "…What's going on?"

"Jou disappeared and I don't know where he is!" the smaller boy exclaimed frantically. "He could hurt himself!"

"Seth will take care of it," the phoenix promised, then reached inside of the pouch of his shirt. "I made something for you and your friend to eat. It'll give you strength—not just physically, but emotionally, too."

Yuu frowned as he was offered a rice ball, then slowly turned his head away. "…I'd rather wait for Jou-kun, thanks."

The older man sighed and crossed his arms thoughtfully, careful not to crush the rice balls, then smiled and looked down at the cat-eared boy. "I think everything will work out fine. Seth already likes you two. I think you'll be able to help each other."

"What could Seth-san ever need help with?" the human asked, frowning in confusion.

Yami rubbed the back of his head. "Well, if he wants you to know he'll tell you. Until then, all I can tell you is he's looking for something."

Yuu blinked at him, baffled. That was it? That was all he was telling him? It wasn't much to go on. "Oh. Well, Jou-kun's pretty good at finding things."

"…Let's just hope Seth doesn't do something to insult him. He can be pretty mean sometimes."

"I have faith that Jou-kun will punch him in the face and they'll be able to call it even," the smaller boy declared, placing his hands on his hips.

After a short, awkward pause, the humanoid phoenix stated, "What I don't understand, is that you and your friend think that you'll be able to hurt us. You realize you're two scrawny little humans, don't you? And we're muscular, athletic spirits?"

"…You've _obviously_ never been punched by Jou-kun," Yuu deadpanned, then sighed and shrugged helplessly. "Well, you'll just have to learn for yourselves then."

"…Right…" Yami smiled to humor him. "I'm sure."

The younger boy shrugged and turned to wait for Seth to return with his friend; if they wanted to learn the hard way, that was just fine with him.


	6. Chapter 6

Author's Note: OHMYGOD IT JUST SLID OUT OF MY FINGERS! I did not originally intend for Seth to think what he does about Jou. I apologize to anyone I may offend because of this. I just don't know what to do about this now. D**:**

Chapter 6

Jou buried his face into his arms and choked back a sob, biting down on his wrist to keep any tears from falling. Crying got him beaten and he didn't want Seth, Yu-Baaba, or Mai smacking him around for shedding a few tears. He winced as he heard someone coming toward him and dug his teeth in further to keep from making any noise, but had to whimper a little when his teeth broke the skin.

Apparently, that whimper was all that Seth needed to find him, as suddenly some branches of the large hydrangea he was hiding in parted and he found Seth peeking in at him. The brunet stared at him for a moment, then sighed and reached inside of the bush to grab his arms. "Come here."

"No-! I don't wanna—Mmn!" Jou winced a little as he was hoisted out and whimpered as he was set on his feet. "O-ow!"

Seth blinked at him for a moment, surprised, then frowned and pulled his sleeves upward. He rumbled unhappily as he saw discolored skin, yellow and green the colors of faded bruises that looked like they'd taken up his entire arms at some point. "What are these?"

"None of your business!" the blond snapped, glaring at him, before whimpering as he grabbed his arm again. "Ow! That hurts!"

The man brought the human into his arms and held him tightly, though for what reason, he couldn't fathom; he just knew he didn't like the fact that someone—anyone—had hurt the boy. He nuzzled the blond's neck gently, and he vaguely remembered doing the same thing years ago, to someone that had needed comfort desperately.

Jou blushed and struggled a little. "H-hey, don't be so embarrassing! I'm not a little kid!"

"…You're right; you're more like a little puppy," Seth replied, smirking as the blond's blush darkened angrily. His face immediately sobered into a scowl. "Why did you run away? Don't you know that if Yu-Baaba found you, she could have turned you back into a dog?"

The human looked away from him sharply and huffed in frustration. "…It doesn't matter. It's all my fault. If… if I hadn't bothered Yuu to begin with, his family wouldn't be in this trouble."

"Bothered? Yuu doesn't seem easily bothered."

"That's not what I—Oh, never _mind,_" Jou sighed, crossing his arms and stalking back toward the pig pens. "…It's just… my dad used to beat me, so Yuu's family took me in while my dad's in jail."

Seth raised an eyebrow and stepped to walk beside him. "You have no mother?"

"…I have one, but she doesn't want me," the blond stated quietly, frowning. "That's why Yuu's family took me in. My mom lives in a different city with my little sister. She left me with my dad when I was ten. He's been beating me off and on since then. Yuu's family only realized when I stumbled into the shop with blood dripping from my head and bruises all over my body. Then they called the police, and here we are."

"_Jou!_"

Seth watched as something bashed into the boy and sent him rolling back down the hill. He supposed it was Yuu. He smirked a little as Yami walked past him and followed him back down to the foot of the hill, where the taller human was being accosted by his smaller friend.

"—Stupid stupid stupid DO YOU KNOW HOW WORRIED I WAS You _know_ you don't take things very well sometimes and you blame yourself for the stupidest things—"

Jou sighed quietly and rolled his eyes but allowed his friend to pat him over for wounds or something like that. He chuckled quietly as the younger boy huffed and reached back to tug on his bristled tail playfully. "Calm down, Yuu. It's not like I jumped in the river or anything."

"…I wouldn't put it past you," the smaller boy replied, still a little angry, but more relieved than anything. Standing, he offered the other boy his hand to help him up. "Yami said he made something for us to eat."

"…We just ate breakfast," the blond pointed out quietly, then brightened when he saw it was rice balls. "But rice balls make a perfect snack!"

Yami and Seth glanced at each other in surprise. Two or three rice balls could successfully fill them up as a meal. They both let out surprised squawks as the pup shoved one entire rice ball into his mouth and flinched backward. "Oh Kami!"

Jou blinked at them innocently before looking down at his friend in confusion. "…Fih I foo somefin?"

"…" Yuu sighed and waved a hand dismissively. "Oh, don't mind them. It's not your fault they've never seen you eat."

The blond frowned in concern, still feeling that he might have done something wrong, then began on his second rice ball, taking smaller bites this time. He shrank back a little when he noticed the two spirits still staring at him and turned his gaze on the ground.

His friend scowled. "Jou, you did nothing wrong."

Jou sighed and nodded slowly, then flinched as he saw a hand coming toward him too fast for his comfort. Taking a step backward to dodge the pain he expected, he ducked under the arm and lunged forward, shooting his fist up instead to collide with Seth's chin. Then, he leapt behind his friend and covered his head.

Seth stumbled back into his own friend, and then they both tumbled to the ground. "Ow! What the hell?"

The blond winced and ducked further behind his feline friend. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to hurt him."

As the brunet sat up and snarled, looking fit to kill, Yuu hurriedly turned and gathered his friend in a hug. "It's okay. I know you didn't mean it, Jou-kun. Don't worry, buddy; they know you didn't mean to hurt anyone either. They're not gonna hurt you, okay?"

Seth glanced at his phoenix friend and raised an eyebrow, but then the blond's sleeves were riding up his arms a bit, and he caught sight of the bruising still visible there. He obviously thought he was going to be hurt again for his disobedience, as he had been with his abusive father.

For some reason, the thought both angered and saddened him.

Sighing, the brunet stood up and dusted himself off. "I'm not going to hurt you, Jou. …Even if that punch _did_ hurt a little."

"Really?" Yami asked in surprise, raising an eyebrow. "It hurt you?"

Seth shot him a glare. "No, Yami, I fell into you because it felt like a gentle breeze; pleasant and soothing."

"Oh. I see the bruising now." The other man smiled slightly. "I guess we don't really give humans enough credit. That bruise is going to be hard to explain."

"Who says I'll explain if anyone asks?" the brunet asked coldly. "Wasn't there something else you wanted to give them?"

"What?" Yami looked confused for a moment, then suddenly nodded in comprehension and pulled a bag from inside the pouch of his clothes. "These are your human clothes. You'll need them to get home."

"Oh. This too," Seth added, handing them the card he'd been holding onto.

Yuu took the card and frowned, brows furrowing together as he read the card as the blond peered over his shoulder. "Yuugi… Oh. That's my whole name, right? And Jou is Jounouchi." He looked up at his friend's face and frowned. "How did we forget?"

"That's how Yu-Baaba gets control—she takes away your name. If you can't remember, you can't go home," the brunet explained, frowning, and turned away slightly. "…I've done everything I could to remember mine."

The two humans looked up at him in surprise. "You've forgotten your name?"

"…I've been here quite some time. I came looking for my little brother, and Yu-Baaba promised to help with that. Then Yami came a while back and told me he'd found my brother. I'd go to him, but I'm stuck under Yu-Baaba's thumb. And he'd bring him to me, except I don't want him used against me." Seth looked down at the ground tiredly. "I don't know if I'll ever get to see him again. I can't remember my name to get away."

Jou frowned in confusion. "…Well… What about Yami? Doesn't your brother know? So Yami would know your name, wouldn't he?"

Yami sighed quietly. "I would, but there's the catch. Phoenixes are righteous creatures; Seth needs to work for it. I can't just tell him. I want to, but I can't." He smiled sadly. "I can't even tell him _my_ real name."

Seth sighed quietly. "I'm beginning to lose hope."

"…Well, we'll look for you!" Yuu declared confidently. "Don't worry, Seth-san! We'll help you!"

Seth smiled slightly. "I don't think you'll be able to, but if you want to keep that illusion, then that's fine."

Jou scowled. "We said we'll help you. I'm naturally lucky, and Yuu succeeds at everything. We'll help you, and you can see your brother again! Just trust us!"

Yami looked up at him and shrugged helplessly. "We've tried everything else. What do we have to lose?"

"…Nothing, I guess," the brunet agreed after a moment, then turned to look back at the humans. "Just don't get caught. I don't want to see you dead or turned into animals. Keeping you alive and well pisses Yu-Baaba off, and I find that much more satisfying."

Jou and Yuu smiled at them brightly. "We'll be fine!"

"Don't worry about us!"

Yami sighed, then turned to the brunet. "I'll go check in with Mokuba, tell him there might be some hope still. I'll stay with him for a while before I came back."

"I've got to do something for Yu-Baaba anyway, so I won't be here," Seth replied, shrugging. "I'll see you around."

The other spirit decided not to answer verbally; instead, he burst into flames and shot into the air, letting out a parting shriek as he flapped his huge wings to gain altitude.

Seth sighed and ran a hand through his hair, then turned back to them and motioned for them to begin walking with him back toward the bathhouse. "Even if you don't find out what my name is, I appreciate just the thought."

"Shut up! We'll figure it out!" Jou snapped, glaring at him. "Have a little faith!"

"…Says the human stuck in a world full of spirits."

"I'll punch you again!"

Yuu sighed in exasperation and rolled his eyes. "Guys…"

Jou scowled and pointed at the taller man in frustration. "He started it!"

"Oh, boo hoo," Seth muttered, rolling his eyes.

The blond glared at him for a moment, then punched him in the arm, feeling a little satisfied when the man flinched away from him. "Jerk!"

Yuu glared at them for a moment before smirking a little. Covering his mouth, he glanced over his shoulder at them coyly. "You two are so cute when you flirt."

"The hell you talking about, Yuu? I'm cute all the time," Jou replied, tossing his hair out of his eyes with his hand as he placed the other on his hip saucily. After a moment, he frowned and turned toward him in confusion, head tilting innocently. "Wait, what'd you say?"

Seth raised an eyebrow at him, then smirked as well. "I wouldn't say _I'm_ cute, but the puppy certainly is."

The blond looked up at him, ears folding back as he grew even more confused. "What?"

"Don't worry your pretty little head, puppy," the spirit ordered quietly, then leaned in to press a short, soft kiss to his cheek. Then, smirking as the blond stared up at him in horrified shock while his face burned bright red, he turned and walked away.

"…W-w-who do you think you are, just going around kissing people!" Jou exclaimed angrily, shaking a fist after him. "Do I look like an easy lay or something?"

Seth turned back to him and raised an eyebrow, looking inquisitive but apathetic. "I don't know what an 'easy lay' is, so I'll leave that up to you to decide."

"Why I ought to—" Jou began, eyes narrowing as he took a step after him.

"_Jou,_" Yuu called warningly, frowning at him.

The blond turned back to him angrily and stomped his foot. "That _jerk_ just said—"

Both boys yelped as they heard a crackle of electricity and quickly turned, but there was no sign of Seth. However, there was a large, white dragon flapping its wings in slow, fluid movements as it gained altitude.

Jou frowned. "…Seth is a dragon?"

"…Whoa." Yuu blinked after the dragon for a few moments, then squeaked and tugged on his friend's sleeve. "Eek! Mai-san is gonna have our heads for sure!"

They would have turned back and just run, but suddenly, they noticed a looming black figure at the side of the bridge, watching them. They couldn't see how, or for what reason—its face was merely a white mask—but they knew it creeped them out. So, instead of just running, they began walking, keeping their eyes on the ground until they'd passed it. Then, they ran, and they didn't look back until they reached the doors, but the spirit (or whatever it was) had disappeared.

Jou frowned in confusion. "…Wha…?"

"Mai-san! She'll kill us!" Yuu gasped again, then grabbed his wrist to drag him into the bathhouse.

When they arrived inside, they found any thoughts of not being in trouble dying terribly messy deaths as they found Mai just inside, glowering at them with her arms crossed in one of the most threatening manners they'd ever seen. Not only that, but the Radish Spirit was standing next to her.

Jou's tail and ears curled closer to his body in fear as Yuu's tail bristled and began waving frantically. "…Hi, Mai."

"Do you know how long you've been gone? I hope you weren't slacking off!" she snapped, glaring at them. "Where's Seth, anyway?"

"…H-he just left, to go… go on a mission from Yu-Baaba!" Yuu exclaimed quickly.

She narrowed her eyes skeptically, then nodded after a moment. "Fine. I'll accept that." She glanced up at the giant white radish, then sighed. "Oshira-sama wanted to see you, Jou, though for what reason—"

Jou yelped as the vegetable man plopped something on his head, then turned and walked away, squeaking all the while. After a moment of startled confusion, he took whatever was on his head off carefully to examine it.

He couldn't help an excited squeal. "_Thank you for the hat, Oshira-samaaaa!_"

.-.-.-.-.-.

Seth laid his head on his arms and sighed, tail twitching slightly as he gazed back in the direction of the bathhouse from his perch on the cliff. He had no idea what had made him tease the pup, had called him cute—had even kissed his cheek.

He closed his eyes and sighed, lifting a hand to trace his lips almost dreamily. The pup's cheek had been so soft and warm… It made him wonder what other parts of the blond's body would be that soft and warm. His waist, perhaps, his thighs? He certainly wouldn't mind putting some bruises there. Mouth-bruises, anyway.

Seth shook his head and promptly slapped himself with his tail. He shouldn't be thinking these things about the human! He had been pushing it as it was just kissing him! Besides, Jou and Yuu were going to go back to the human world, and it wasn't like he could just take the blond's innocence and then send him away!

He groaned quietly as he felt a pulse of pain in the front of his skull, and he suddenly saw a flash of a smiling, juvenile face laughing in a careless way that only a child could manage, and he could have sworn he felt a pair of arms wrapped around his neck. Then, he leaned backward and fell onto his back, gasping almost as if in pain as he felt the arms around his neck grow larger and more muscular, and then he felt a pair of legs straddling his hips—muscular legs that he found himself strangely aroused by.

Then all at once the feeling was gone, and he was left staring up at the sky blindly, panting. He had no idea what had happened other than that this time, it had been much worse than the thing back at the bathhouse.

Seth sighed as he got his breathing back to normal, then moaned quietly as he remembered the thighs that he'd imagined curled around him. Jou had thighs like that. Why was he thinking of the blond in such a sexual manner? He was supposed to find another dragon and mate with _them,_ not some blond human-turned-puppy! So why was he getting such pleasure out of Jou, teasing him, touching him, thinking about him?

As he thought about it, the idea of mating with another dragon wasn't nearly as arousing as claiming the little blond with the quickest temper he'd ever seen. It wasn't that he was feminine or anything (well, he wouldn't lie; Jou probably had the most feminine looking curves a boy could have), and he was certainly very strong, with an attitude like spitfire. It wasn't like he was some delicate flower or anything.

But the idea of ramming into that soft, pliant body was much more arousing than anything else he could think of, especially when he imagined Jou panting and mewling beneath him appreciatively, helplessly.

Seth slapped himself with his tail again. "_Gah!_"

…But his imagination was running away without him, even as he immediately ordered it to stopstopstop_stop._

He could almost feel the blond's hands running frantically over his body as he was pounded into the floor, digging his nails in helplessly as he was tossed like a rag doll. He could imagine Jou's thighs wrapped over his hips, flexing with each inward thrust he took. He could hear the blond mewl and keen and moan like a wanton whore and he just wanted to go back, steal the blond, and take him—gently, roughly, he couldn't decide.

Again, skull met scaled tail. "_GAH!_"

…He should really get on with what Yu-Baaba wanted him to do. Maybe that way he'd stop thinking about Jou.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"…You're way too happy about that hat," Mai stated, frowning, as the blond giggled proudly about his new headwear.

"I can't help it! It's such an awesome hat!" Jou exclaimed helplessly, frowning.

Yuu rolled his eyes. "Oh, Jou, it's just that you've been hugging that thing since we came up here."

"…But I like my hat…" The taller boy blinked, then turned and looked at the door leading to the balcony. "…What's that sound?"

Mai blinked at him in surprise, then walked over to the door, sliding it open a little. She grimaced. "Ugh, it's raining. I wonder how long _this_ storm will last."

At that, the two humans came up beside her, frowning when they saw the huge black storm clouds darkening the sky. Yuu frowned in concern. "I hope Seth-san is okay…"

The woman snorted and waved the thought away. "Pft, don't worry about that jackass. He's tougher than any storm they could throw at him. Now let's sleep while we can; Otogi informed me that we have to clean the big tub tomorrow." Her eyes narrowed. "Bastard thought it was funny. Honda tried to get us something simpler, but even he can't change orders from the top."

"…Well, we'll just have to show them all how good we are at cleaning then," Jou replied, flopping down on Yuu's futon. "I'm sharing with you tonight, Yuu."

The younger boy smiled. "Fine, whatever you need."

Once everyone was asleep, however, both of them sneaked down to the boiler room so Jou could hide his hat with his other clothes and give the susuwatori some extra handfuls of candy stars.


	7. Chapter 7

Author's Note: I'M SO SORRY I DIDN'T ANSWER YOUR REVIEWS ARGH! Don't hate me plz I love you. D**:** Not to sound like a creeper or anything.

Chapter 7

Jou gasped and sat up quickly, trembling a little as he brought a hand up to trail his fingers over his lips. He shivered slightly as the chilly air hit his sweaty skin and closed his eyes tightly, then hurriedly ducked back down under the quilt, grasping Yuu tightly as he tried to calm down from his terrifying dream.

He shivered again and bit his bottom lip; he could still feel the hands trailing down his sides, the fingers gently abusing his nipples, the mouth claiming his in a tender, caring nature. He could see those blue eyes dark with lust burning into him, and it terrified him; no one had ever looked at him like that, with so much tenderness and care and… and _want._

Shivering again, he tucked his head under his friend's chin and tried to block out the dream. _'He just likes to tease me. He'd never look at me like that.'_

.-.-.-.-.-.

"I hate washing floors."

Jou sighed and rolled his eyes. "You're just embarrassed because you couldn't move as fast as everyone else."

"I've never seen anyone actually wash a floor like that!" Yuu exclaimed, wringing his towel into a bucket of dirty water. "Mom always uses a mop!"

"…Yeah, we don't use whatever you said here," Mai replied, smiling a little. "Our guests like to see a little elbow grease."

"I think they'll see more face grease with the way Jou-kun kept face-planting," the smaller boy mumbled.

Jou scowled. "I'm _clumsy!_"

"Hence the face grease," Mai deadpanned. "Look, hurry up and dump this water out; we still have to clean out the big tub and I'd like to start on that before we get another guest that might need to use it."

"Okay," they replied, each of them grabbing one of the buckets as she took the towels to put them in the laundry.

"…I wonder how Yami and Seth or doing," Yuu murmured thoughtfully as he stopped beside the door.

Jou huffed and used his foot to open it, throwing the water in his bucket out carelessly. "Who cares? They can take care of themselves; besides, who needs perverts like them around!"

"Yami wasn't a pervert," the smaller boy stated, brows furrowing together in confusion. "…And all Seth did was kiss your cheek."

"…Well that was one kiss too many!" the blond exclaimed, cheeks burning in embarrassment when he remembered his earlier dream.

Yuu stared at him for a few seconds before turning his attention to carefully pouring out his own bucket. "I guess this is one of those things you have a hard time talking about, Jou-kun. I'm sure you'll tell me when you're ready. I mean—Ack!"

Jou blinked in confusion and looked outside, jumping a little when he saw the strange person—the black spirit with the white mask—outside in the garden. "Oh my God-!" He slipped on the small puddle of water from Yuu's bucket and hit the ground hard. "Owie!"

"Are you okay, Jou-kun?" the feline boy asked quickly, concerned, and sighed when the blond groaned and nodded. "Sorry." He looked back at the strange spirit and tilted his head, then glanced upward at the sky black with storm clouds. "Hey, aren't you getting wet out there? You should get out of the rain!"

The spirit only stared at them.

Jou frowned uneasily and rested a hand on his friend's shoulder. "We—we should get back before Mai gets mad. We'll just leave the door open for you, okay?" He shivered a little when the spirit just continued to stare and hurriedly dragged the smaller boy away. "Jeez, that guy gives me the creeps!"

Yuu sighed quietly but followed him. "Everything here gives you the creeps, Jou-kun."

"Nah uh! Seth and Yami don't give me the creeps!" the blond exclaimed defensively. "Seth just pisses me off!"

"…Jou, that's a horrible thing to say."

Jou frowned. "But it's _true!_"

"…Never mind…"

.-.-.-.-.-.

Yami frowned as he watched the little grey dragon in front of him squirm in his sleep, then reached out a foot and gently patted his head. The whimpering kit stilled.

He sincerely hoped that Yuu and Jou would be able to find Seth's real name. He hated the thought of having to tell Mokuba that he would never see his brother again. He didn't know what it was, but he could just _sense_ something different about the two humans the moment he'd seen them, as if he somehow knew that they'd be able to help.

It did not take a genius (even though he was) to see that the timid Yuu completed the clumsy Jou. Yuu was timid; Jou was bold. Yuu was unassuming; Jou was suspicious. If Yuu was being manipulated in any way, Jou would see to it that the manipulator paid the price for it. After all, Seth was the one that had told him that Jou had successfully frightened any thoughts of sex from Otogi's mind, which he'd always thought impossible. And, if Jou felt lower than dirt, Yuu could be counted on to comfort him and bolster his self-esteem.

He couldn't help but wonder about the similarities between his hair and the human's, though. However, that was where the similarities ended. Yuu's face was cherubic and innocent, and his eyes were like big amethysts. Yami's was sharp, angular, and his eyes were dark red—and scary, if he got angry enough. Though Yuu had shown no fear or apprehension with him, he couldn't help but wonder what he'd feel if he saw him in all his fury—fiery, righteous fury. …Fury that sent even Mokuba and Seth to scramble behind their wings as shields as they hurriedly ran away.

Well… it wouldn't hurt if he made another small visit to the bathhouse. Mokuba would still be asleep for a few hours.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Ugh, this is disgusting; they haven't cleaned this tub in months," Mai stated, nose wrinkling in distaste. "Well, come on. The sooner we get started on this, the sooner we get finished."

"So it's usually not this bad when people clean it?" Yuu asked, carefully stepping down onto the grass-covered floor.

"They usually have the frogs clean it, anyway," the woman stated in disgust. "Probably just Otogi getting revenge for what Jou said to him—"

"ACK!"

"…Yuu, help Jou up so we can get started." Mai raised an eyebrow as she watched the smaller boy help his canine-eared friend up, then rolled her eyes. "You're such a klutz."

Jou blushed and glared at her. "Shut up! I just didn't expect it to be so slippery!"

"…But Jou-kun, it's the second time today you've slipped."

The blond huffed, then gathered the brushes and bucket he'd dropped when he fell. "Well, maybe if there wasn't all this stuff on the ground—"

"That's why you're cleaning it."

"_Ack!_" And everything promptly fell back to the floor.

Honda raised an eyebrow at him, then turned his attention to Mai. "Mai, Yami's back for another bath. …He looks like he fell in a mud puddle."

"Well do you want us to clean the big tub or do you want us to give Yami a bath?" she exclaimed angrily. "Because if we give Yami a bath, you're the one explaining to Otogi—"

"H-hey, calm down!" the brown-haired feline cut in, holding his hands up helplessly. "It's not my fault Yami asks specifically for you!" He paused, then added, "Ya know, you could just send one person while the other two stay here and begin to clean stuff up. Then you can all work on the tub. I don't want Otogi pissed at me, but I _definitely_ don't want Yu-Babaa pissed because Yami decides not to come here anymore."

Mai sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "…Well, I suppose Jou and I can handle this. Yuu, you go and help Yami with his bath, and we'll start on all of this… junk."

Yuu squeaked at the thought of taking care of Yami alone. "But-!"

"…Do you really want Jou to do it?" she asked, resting a hand on her hip.

The smaller teen tilted his head in thought, and he had a vision of Jou tripping over his feet and falling head-first into the tub, or accidentally hurting Yami. "…Well, no…"

"Hey! I'm right here!"

"Exactly. So you're the one helping Yami while Jou and I get this stuff cleaned up. Honda, will you get Yuu the right bath token? I can't help but think Otogi might give him the wrong one."

"No problem," Honda replied, offering her a small salute before turning to the other feline-eared boy. "Come on; I'll make sure you get to Yami in one piece."

Yuu smiled sweetly. "Thank you."

Jou watched him go worriedly; he hoped Yami wouldn't take advantage of his friend. He'd hate to hurt him after all he'd done for them.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Yami tilted his head slightly as he watched Yuu walk in. _'Yuu?'_

"Hi, Yami-sa—Oh my goodness! You really _do_ look like you fell in a mud puddle!" Yuu covered his mouth as his tail began to twitch. "How did that happen!"

'…_You wouldn't believe me even if I told you.'_ Yami watched as the younger boy scurried over to door in the wall to get him some water. Once the tub was filled, he dropped a brush on the floor and hopped into the water. Then, he looked toward his small look-alike expectantly.

Yuu blinked at him for a few moments, then looked down at the brush. "…Do you need me to brush you because you're so dirty?" When the bird nodded, he smiled. "Oh! Okay!"

Yami fluffed his feathers affectionately as the boy began brushing the mud into the water. Mai was always quick and efficient with her strokes, and he didn't really get to enjoy it; Yuu was gentle but firm, and was going at just the right speed that he hated the thought of the brushing coming to an end.

It really was selfish on his part, he supposed. He liked being around Yuu. And, he found that he liked being touched by Yuu. He supposed it was because Yuu was so unassuming and gentle. He was sure that if Jou were brushing him, it would either be too hard or too soft; he often seemed unaware of how strong he was, or he was too frightened to hurt someone.

Seth really shouldn't have played with his feelings by teasing and kissing him. He was too fragile to be doing those sorts of things to him.

Once all of the mud was taken care of, Yami hopped out of the tub, then turned and spat a ball of fire into it. Then, he began heating his body up so Yuu wouldn't have to mop up after him. He preened the younger boy's bangs gently, then dropped some gold on the ground for him to pick up when it cooled and took off. Mokuba would be awake soon, whining for his brother, and he'd need to be there to explain why he couldn't be with them yet.

Yuu watched him go, frowning, then huffed. "He didn't even let me say goodbye!" After a moment, he rolled his eyes and bent to pick up the gold. "Well, at least I don't have to drain the tub to clean it."

"Let one of the frogs take care of it," Honda suggested, leaning in the doorway. "The frogs left the big tub a mess for you; leave this tub a mess for them." He shrugged slightly when the smaller boy stared at him in disbelief. "What? I like to think I'm a fair guy; I'll take the gold, and you can go help Mai and Jou with the big tub again. Thanks for taking care of Yami. He's one of our most reliable clients."

Yuu blinked up at him for a few moments, stunned, then smiled and handed him the gold that had been left behind for payment. "Okay. Thanks, Honda-san."

The brunet feline ruffled the hair between the smaller boy's ears. "No prob. Gotta look out for my fellow felines, don't I? …And certain canines, of course." He smiled a little. "I like Jou; he's got guts, and the only ones I can think of that even come close that work here are Mai and Kamajii, to a point. Now, you better hurry back; I've noticed your friend is kind of clumsy."

"Eek! Jou-kun! Thank you Honda-san!" Yuu exclaimed, rushing back toward the big tub.

Honda smiled a little as he watched him go, then looked at the gold in his hand. Yami had left a sizeable amount this time; he must have really liked Yuu and Jou. He could see why; humans were surprisingly interesting creatures.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"I'm bac—Jou-kun! What happened to your face!" Yuu gasped, pointing at him.

Jou blushed and rubbed the back of his head. "…I slipped on some grass again and Mai accidentally elbowed me in the eye when she turned around. It's no biggie."

"…You're just an accident waiting to happen, Jou-kun," the feline sighed, shaking his head.

The blond huffed and crossed his arms, then rolled his eyes and turned his attention back to the tub. "We just started scrubbing the sludge off. Come on."

"Okay."

Once Yuu was in the tub and scrubbing along with them, the job seemed to go much faster, though Mai still grumbled about stupid frogs and idiot cats (mostly Otogi) for not making them clean up after themselves. She was appeased a little when Yuu mentioned Honda's solution for cleaning up after Yami. Then she was pissed off all over again when Honda came back in.

"Hey, you guys have a customer who needs the big tub!"

"We're not _finished_ yet!" she exclaimed angrily.

Honda grabbed his ears instinctively, even though she was too far away to yank on them (which she liked to do whenever she got mad). "Hey, I'm just relaying what I've been told! I'm sorry!"

"Ugh, what the fuck ever. You tell Otogi that if he pulls this crap again, I'm grabbing him and slinging him into the sludge _head first!_" she snarled, then sighed and rubbed the back of her head. "Well, I guess there's nothing to be done. We'll have to soak it off."

"Soak it off?" Jou questioned, tilting his head.

Mai nodded and cupped her hands together to give Yuu a leg up. "Yuu, go get us an herbal soap token from the foreman while Jou and I drain the sludge we've gotten off so far."

Yuu nodded firmly. "Right!" Turning, he began to run out, then hurriedly ran back to the bath. "Mai! What's a foreman?"

"Just find Otogi! He should be in charge of the soap tokens!" she exclaimed in exasperation.

"Okay!" Yuu began away again. Once he found Otogi, however, sitting at a desk, he paused. Jou had insulted Otogi (sort of), and now there was sort of 'guilt by association' with him. After a moment, though, he steeled his resolve and walked up to him. "Excuse me! I need an herbal soap!"

Otogi glanced at him for a moment, then huffed in irritation. "Sorry, I don't think so."

"Wha-!" The smaller boy took a step back, shocked by the blatant disregard for him. If Jou were here, he would have demanded respect—or earned it by beating him around.

…He sort of wished Jou were here, just so he could wipe the smug smile off the other man's face as he gave _everyone but him_ a bath token.

Yuu's ears wilted slightly at the thought of going back and not having a bath token, but they perked right back up with the realization that Mai would get angry. "If you _don't_ give me a bath token, I'll tell Mai-san and Jou-kun! They'll be angry!"

Otogi paused in thought, as if weighing the repercussions of each action. Then, he shrugged. "This may come as a shock to you, but your little friends _don't_ scare me."

Yuu huffed and crossed his arms, cheeks puffing out in frustration. _'I bet you'd say something else __**entirely**__ if Mai or Jou were here right now!'_ He blinked as the strange spirit they'd allowed in out of the rain appeared out of nowhere beside the flippant feline. When the spirit bowed in greeting, he dipped his head in his own small bow, then watched as it disappeared from view again.

Otogi gave the smaller boy a confused glance before jumping a little as the telephone rang. It needed his attention more. "Foreman speaking, Otogi on duty. Oh, yes. I—" His eyes widened as one of the tokens lifted in midair. "What the—Hey!"

Yuu blinked as the token was tossed in his direction and caught it quickly. When he realized that he had a token, however, he smiled and quickly bowed. "Thank you very much!" Then, he turned and scampered away, giggling a little as other man hissed and shook a fist after him.

"Come back here you little—"

"_What's going on down there, Otogi?"_

"Nothing, nothing, everything is fine!" Otogi answered quickly, then looked around his desk in confusion. No one had been there to give Yuu the token. …This was really giving him the creeps.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Wow, Yuu, you got a good one," Mai stated, looking the token over. She attached it to the rope sending the token to Kamajii, then gave it a tug and snapped the door shut. "Well, that's pretty much done. You guys fill the tub. I'll go get us some lunch."

"Just tug the rope to start it, then tug it again to stop it, right?" Jou asked, just for confirmation.

"Yup. I'll be back soon, okay?"

The two boys waved to show they'd heard, then went to go fill the tub. Then, Yuu told his friend what had happened and had to save the blond from drowning in the steaming water when he snarled, lost his footing, and almost went head over heels into the tub.

"I'll murder him! Let me at him, Yuu! I'll rip his face off!"

"Jou-kun, I got the token. Let's just let it go. …You can beat him up next time," Yuu promised, which appeared to mollify the taller boy a little.

"Yeah, whatever." Jou frowned and rubbed the back of his head. "…Yuu? Is it… _wrong_ for me to be dreaming about Seth?"

"No, I don't think—Hmmm?" Yuu blinked, then turned to give the blond a playful leer. "And just how are you dreaming about him, Jou-kun?"

"Wha-! Why does that matter!" Jou's cheeks began to burn in embarrassment. "Yuu!"

"I think I can figure it out on my own, with that reaction."

"_Yuu!_" Blushing even darker, the blond huffed and turned away. "Jerk!"

Yuu laughed playfully. "Oh, Jou-kun, you know I'm just kidding!" He blinked as he sensed something behind him, then turned quickly. "Huh?"

Jou turned as well in concern. "Yuu, what—Ack!" He pointed. "Mask-Face-Guy-Thing!"

The masked spirit stared at them for a moment, then extended his hands, showing them to be full of bath tokens. He made an offering motion with his hands.

Yuu covered his mouth in shock. "There are so many-!"

When the spirit made another offering motion, Jou frowned. "Are… are they for us?"

The smaller boy looked back up at the spirit's face. "I'm sorry. Thank you for your help, but we only needed one."

When it made one last offering motion, the blond scowled. "Damn it, we said we don't need anymore! Thanks for your help but get lost, you creeper!"

"…Jou!" Yuu hissed in a scolding manner. "What if you hurt his feelings?"

"Who cares?"

The two boys paused in their squabbling as they heard the wood clattering to the ground and turned to find the spirit fading from sight.

Yuu looked down at the tokens and frowned, digging his hands into his hair. "What are we supposed to do with these now?"

"Um… We could keep them and sneak them back tonight," Jou answered anxiously, tapping his fingers together.

"I guess we could…" The smaller boy blinked as he felt heat near his feet, then gasped as water passed by him to sweep outward.

Jou let out a yelp as the hot water pooled around his feet and turned sharply. "Wah! Pull the rope, pull the rope!" he exclaimed, scrambling up the side of the tub.

When he slipped slightly, Yuu gave him the push he needed to keep from falling back down. "Get it, get it!"

"_Nyee!_ Hot! Ack!" The blond grabbed the rope and used his weight to yank it down. The water trickled to a stop.

"We need to get this mopped up before Mai or the customer gets here! Towels! We need towels!" the smaller teen exclaimed, releasing him and scurrying off for towels.

Jou yelped as his anchor left and slipped down the side of the tub, banging the back of his skull against it. "Ow! Yuu!"

"Sorry! _Towels!_"


	8. Chapter 8

Author's Notes: Yeah, I told you I'd use the Japanese names, right? And you know that Oshira-sama is the radish spirit, so let me add a one more just to confuse you. Okusare-sama is the stink spirit ("kussare" means "rotten"). Next chapter we will have some more action. This chapter is pretty… weird, I guess. It's sort of slow. But there's comedy in there. Also… Jou hates his life. **X3** We love him.

Chapter 8

Yuu shuddered as he felt mucky gold being dropped in his hands. He was glad it was him there to receive the guest, though, and not Jou; Jou wasn't known for his tact. …He probably would have gagged the moment the stink spirit slipped in through the door. He just didn't know how Jou would react once they got back to the tub—or what he would have done with the bath tokens that they'd been panicking about.

Taking a deep breath (which he instantly regretted when his nose was filled with the Stink Spirit's rancid scent), he steeled his nerves, then led the spirit into the partitioned bath. "This way, Okusare-sama." He squeaked as the spirit lurched directly toward the tub and hurriedly scrambled out of the way, stumbling over to his stunned friend's side. "Ack!"

"Open the windows! All of them!" Yu-Baaba ordered, running along the second story's floor. "Do it now!"

Jou's eye twitched as the muddy spirit's small arms gripped the edge of the tub before it lunged forward and fell into the steaming water. The sudden addition of mass, however, sent the water spilling over the edges of the tub, thick and murky from the scum of the spirit. He squeaked and grabbed the bucket he'd placed the bath tokens in, then grabbed the back of his friend's shirt and slung him upward, to which he quickly grabbed onto his hair and settled himself on his shoulders.

The blond grunted as he was knocked into the wall from the surge of muck, nose wrinkling in disgust as the slippery mud pooled around the room. "Ugh, this is so disgusting-!"

Yuu frowned at him, then looked toward the spirit, which was looking at its arms in confusion. When it turned an imploring expression on him, he tapped the older boy on the head. "Jou-kun, I think he wants us to refill the tub!"

"I don't think all the water in the world could make him clean, Yuu," Jou mumbled, but sighed and began trudging through the mud over to the panel in the wall. "I think I'd rather be a dog."

The smaller teen leaned forward and banged on the wall twice, then gasped as the blond yelped in pain as the door swung open and hit him in the face. "I'm sorry, Jou-kun!"

The blond clutched his nose for a moment, then lifted the bucket, grumbling, "…I hate my life."

"…Sorry, Jou-kun…" Yuu replied quietly, grabbing one of the tokens, before reaching out to clip one of the tokens to the string. Once making sure it was secure, he gave it a yank and watched as it disappeared from sight.

Once sure the other boy was finished, Jou slammed the panel shut a little harder than necessary. Turning to look up at the water chute as it fell opened, he sighed loudly. "…Really?"

"Come on, Jou-kun. You can do it!" the feline exclaimed positively, smiling. "You're tough, right?"

"…I hate my life." Abandoning the bucket, he took a deep breath before beginning to walk, wiggle, and force his way over to the rope to refill the tub.

As they reached the side of the tub, the spirit expelled a large breath, and the smaller boy gagged and nearly fell off his friend. Luckily, Jou had a grip on his legs and was unwilling to let him go headfirst into the sludge; he didn't have as many problems as his buddy did, because honestly, some of the dumpsters he'd had to sleep behind had smelled much worse. He just needed Yuu to hurry up, because the muck was slippery— He yipped quietly as he felt the mud beneath his foot suddenly give, and suddenly he was under it instead of fighting through it.

Yuu grabbed the rope and gave it a yank, only to squeak as the firm body beneath his fell away. "Ack-! Jou-kun!" Hooking his feet in the loop at the end of the rope, he looked down into the murky water and thick muck to see where he'd disappeared. "Jou? _Jou!_" He couldn't see him; there was too much water and gunk to see where he'd gone.

Moments later, however, the spirit lifted him out of the water, leaving the blond to choke and hack and cough until all of the nasty tasting water and muck was out of his throat. He gasped and fell back in the spirit's arms, still a little dazed from the sudden change of taste and texture and sound, then slowly looked up at the spirit. Well, if it was so willing to help him, he should really help it.

Yuu frowned as he watched his friend duck into the torrent of water toward the spirit and leaned toward him. "Jou-kun! Are you okay?"

Jou appeared back out of the water with another gasp. "I was gonna try and scrub him, but it feels like there's a thorn in his side. I'm gonna try and pull it out, okay?" he informed the other boy, before ducking back under the stream.

"Yuu! Jou! Where are you!"

The feline turned his head quickly, then waved once he saw Mai. "Mai! Over here!"

She jerked her gaze up at him quickly. "Are you alright? Where's Jou?"

"Helping the stink spirit!" Yuu exclaimed, frowning. "He says that he has a thorn in his side and is trying to get it out!"

"A thorn?" Mai frowned as well. "Why would it have—"

Jou leaned back out of the water with another gasp. "I can't get it out!" He let out a squawk as Yu-Babaa came to float next to them. "Ack!"

"Listen to me!" she ordered, and for once, the blond didn't have a snarky retort. She narrowed her eyes. "That's no stink spirit we have on our hands!" She clapped her hands together then spread them apart quickly, forming a long, thick rope. Throwing it to them, she ordered, "Take this! Tie it to the thorn!"

"Right!" Jou replied, nodding once, before grabbing the end of the rope and diving back into the pouring water.

Mai finally climbed up the side of the tub before moving to help Yuu. "Get down, Yuu; you're fine now. Where's—"

The blond popped back out of the water with a gasp. "I've got it tied on!" He frowned in confusion, then smiled brightly. "Hi, Mai!"

Eyebrow twitching, she brought her fist down on his head. "Don't say 'hi' to me so casually in a situation like this!"

"Owie!"

"Now get out here and help us pull!" she added, glaring at him.

Jou and Yuu scurried away to stand at the foot of the bathtub, gripping the rope tightly. They looked up as Yu-Baaba pulled out a pair of fans. "Everybody be ready to pull on my command! And HEAVE!" she roared, moving her hands to the side.

All at once, all of the workers of the bathhouse began to pull, tug, and jerk at the rope, which had very little give.

"And HEAVE!"

A little give this time—the thorn was coming out!

"And HEAVE!" "Heave!" "And-heave!"

Yuu and Jou looked up in surprise as they heard other voices only to find the rest of the customers of the bathhouse waving fans of their own in an effort to cheer them on. That only made their determination to pull the thorn free greater.

"And HEAVE!"

Yuu blinked as he saw the thorn break free of the pouring water, then released the rope in favor of stepping up and grabbing the thorn, which was firmer and rounder than a thorn really should be. His eyes widened as more came out. "A bicycle?" Despite his surprise, he reached up to grab the wheel and gave a fierce tug.

There was a sudden jerk the wheel broke free of the muck, then it and tons of sewage behind it began pouring out. Jou yelped and leapt up to grab his friend out of the way, standing to the side as it all surged forward onto the floor; Mai, seeing that they were safe, dove out of the way and scrabbled back with the other workers to get out of the trash's way.

Jou blinked as the huge mass of garbage seemed to come to a stop, but then there was a little fishing line still stuck inside. Reaching out, he grabbed it quickly and gave it a swift yank. "Get outta there!"

It was like releasing the cork from a bottle of champagne; a rush of air came shooting out, glowing purple and green, before it faded to a stop. The two humans heard the sound of a giant sigh of relief being expelled before they were grabbed up by the water itself as it sent a huge wave surging outward. Instead of being frightened, however, they felt a great sense of calm from it, as they felt the joy and relief from the being inside of it.

A giant mask appeared from the water then, looking old and wrinkly, but extremely refreshed. It had a crooked little smile that could only be thought of as proud as it murmured, "Welllll dooone."

Once they were released on the edge of the tub, they could only stare at the slightly rippling water, seeming so calm and unassuming, as if it hadn't done anything—as if no stink spirit had ever been there. The ambiance was calm, almost soothing, and it was a dramatic difference from the past few minutes.

Yuu blinked as he felt something in his hands and looked down; it appeared to be some herbs crushed together to make an orb. He looked back at the water in surprise before looking up at his friend as he heard him gasp. It appeared Jou had also gotten a gift. However, it was no sort of medicine; it was a small sack, and as he peered inside of it, he saw that it was filled with a small handful of gold.

"Gold!"

Jou squeaked and held the bag in his hands protectively as he turned, only to find the other workers diving among the garbage to extract handfuls of the small pieces of gold.

Otogi let out an angry squawk. "Hey, that's company property! Hands off!"

"Our guest is still here, you idiots! Show some respect!" Yu-Baaba shouted, glaring at them.

Everyone turned sharply as the water in the tub began to rumble and roil violently. Yuu and Jou paused, unsure of what to do now.

Yu-Baaba came to hover beside them. "Yuu, Jou, you're blocking our guest's way. Stand aside."

Yuu blushed. "Oh! Sorry!"

She nodded once, then turned her head. "Open the main gates! Make way!"

Jou sighed, then bowed his head a little. "Thank you, sir." Then, he turned and hopped off the side of the tub carelessly.

The feline boy paused a little longer for a full, proper bow, murmuring a quick 'sorry for my friend's rudeness' before he scurried after him.

The water boiled and squirmed a few more seconds before bursting upward, and the mask began to laugh as the two boys suddenly found it attached to a long, liquid body with dozens of small arms down the sides, its long back topped with a small ruff of fur. It rounded one of the widows' walks before flying outward and out the main gates, still laughing as it exited.

Jou frowned. "…That must be what happens when a river gets polluted."

"Yeah," Yuu agreed quietly, before letting out a yelp as he was grabbed up in a tight hug. "Eek!"

The blond yipped as well as he was also pulled into a hug, one surprisingly strong arm wrapped around his waist. "Ack!"

"Boys, you did great! We made so much money! That spirit is rich and powerful!" Yu-Baaba exclaimed, hugging them tightly, before releasing them to fall to the ground in surprised, stunned confusion. Turning to face the rest of the workers, she motioned toward the two humans. "Everyone learn from Yuu and Jou. Sake's on the house tonight!"

As the rest of the workers began to cheer, the two boys couldn't help but look down at their own personal gifts from the river spirit, smiling.

"Just make sure to return all of the gold you picked up," the bath crone added, to which the workers began a protest.

"What?"

"That's so stingy!"

"It's not fair!"

"Morons, you didn't even do any of the work," Mai mumbled, glaring at them, before dropping her handful of gold carelessly. "Well, guys, let's get this tub cleaned up now."

Jou let out a whine. "Really? After all that work!"

"…I'm going to pitch you head first into one of those puddles of mud—"

"Where'd you want this bicycle?"

Yuu giggled quietly. Mai and Jou were fun to watch sometimes.

.-.-.-.-.-.

"It looks like a sea," Jou commented quietly, kicking his feet as he looked out at the water.

"What do you expect after all that rain?" Mai asked, coming to sprawl out beside him. "I got you guys some dumplings."

Yuu smiled brightly and took two, then passed the second one to his friend. "Thanks!" He paused after taking a bite of his dumpling, then pointed outward. "There's the train!"

"Ugh, I swear, one of these days I'm gonna get on that train and get out of this dump," Mai mumbled around a mouthful of food. "Soon 's I can get the gold together to take Otogi and Honda with me."

The canine boy blinked, then turned his head toward her slowly, brows furrowing together in confusion. "Why do you need to take them with you?"

She sighed. "Call me crazy, but I like them. Neither of them wants to be here; they want to go home. If they go home, I can go with them and find someplace to stay. It sounds better than just going out on my own with no idea where I'm going." This was followed by another sigh. "But it'll probably be years, though. All of the gold goes to Yu-Baaba as profits, and most spirits are horrible tippers. I don't even have enough for myself."

"…You'll get enough someday, Mai. I'm sure of it," Jou replied, unconsciously reaching down to pat his pocket, where his own gold was hidden in its little sack.

Yuu pulled out his ball of herbs to look at it, suddenly feeling incredibly lucky to have been given it. He lifted it to his nose to sniff; it smelled good. He eyed the medicine for another moment before lifting it to his lips and gently nibbled a piece off. After a moment of chewing, however, the bitter taste made him regret even thinking about it. "Bleckh! Agh! Rgh!"

Jou frowned as he watched his friend gag, squirming, and reached over to pat him on the back. "Are you okay?"

The smaller boy cringed before quickly sucking the innards from his dumpling. _'Agh! Disgusting, disgusting, disgusting!'_

"…Yuu?" Mai asked slowly, brows furrowing together. "What's wrong?"

"Rrgh!"

.-.-.-.-.-.

Honda frowned as he heard a commotion near the baths and reached out to pat Otogi's arm. "Otogi, do you hear that?"

"Mm. No." The raven-haired feline tightened his arm around the other boy's waist.

"Seriously! I hear something!" the brunet exclaimed, scowling, only to blush and 'eep' as the older boy rolled on top of him. "_Otogi!_"

"Mmm…" Otogi nuzzled his chest slowly before beginning to knead his sides, purring.

Honda mewled and squirmed beneath him. "That tickles—_OTOGI!_"

Otogi yelped and flailed wildly as he rolled off the brunet and futon onto the floor. "Ow! What is it? Either the bathhouse is on fire or your water broke!"

The brunet's ears folded back as he sat up, glaring at him. "Do I _look_ pregnant, Otogi?"

"What? When did I ever say you were pregnant?"

"Go check what that noise is!" Honda snapped, drawing the quilt up to his chest. "And maybe I'll let you back into bed with me!"

Otogi blinked in confusion as the brunet huffed and turned his back to him. "But what—" His ears twitched as he heard a commotion coming from downstairs, so he sighed and leaned over to kiss the other boy's temple before he stood up. "I'll be right back."

"Don't get beaten up;" the brunet mumbled, snuggling under the quilt.

"Where's the faith? Have I not been a good mate?"

"A good mate that's easily beaten up." Honda yawned. "Hurry up and check out what that noise was, babe."

Otogi grumbled but turned to go, yawning and scratching behind one of his ears idly. "This better be good; I was having the most wonderful dream… Honda and me having some cream… Then dumping the cream on Honda and having him…" He frowned slightly as he saw a light coming from one of the baths, ears folding back warily as his tail twitched.

When he realized it was the bath that the rich river spirit had been in, however, he sighed; it was probably one of the younger workers trying to find some small speck of gold, even though the gold had been gathered and the room cleaned. There were times when he admired the work ethic of the younger ones. This was not one of them.

He frowned as he heard some sort of commotion, then scowled, ears folding back in annoyance; there must be more than one, and they were scuffling over something that probably wasn't even gold! "What's going on in there? It's way past bedtime! You shouldn't even be out here—" He cut himself off in confusion when he found no one in the bath and blinked. "What-?"

Otogi gasped as a few pieces of gold fell down in front of him and took a step back, then looked up in confusion. "What the—" His jaw fell open in awe as he saw the large black spirit perched atop the wall, its froglike feet and hands curling around the lip of wood tightly.

The spirit croaked. "Hey, boss! I'm hungry—starving! And I want _you_ to serve me!"

'_Why is that voice so familiar?'_ Something struck him as wrong, and this spirit was obviously here under odd conditions. His tongue darted out to lick his lips as he glanced down at the gold on the floor before flicking up to the gold it was offering him still in its hand. It was just giving him gold; that meant that he and Honda could leave. They might even be able to afford taking Mai with them!

So, it stood to reason that he held his hands out to catch the gold as the spirit dropped it. "Ah-!"

"Oh, I wanna take a bath, too. Why don't you just wake everyone up?" the spirit continued.

Otogi stared up at him for a few moments before hurriedly bowing. "Right away, sir."

.-.-.-.-.-.

Honda grunted loudly as he was slammed into, then sat up quickly, snarling. "First you call me pregnant and now you're attacking me in my sleep? Why I oughtta—Well hello," he finished, frowning, as he found handfuls of gold being held under his nose. Looking up at his mate in confusion, he tilted his head. "Where did you get all this? …You didn't take it from Yu-Baaba, did you?"

"No, there's this customer that just gave it to me. He wants me to wake everyone up. Do you think I should?" Otogi asked, frowning.

Honda frowned as well. "I don't know… It should be okay as long as we don't tell Yu-Baaba, right?"

"That's what I was thinking. …If you wake up the girls, I'll wake up everyone else."

The brunet scowled. "You're just afraid that Mai or Jou will deck you if you wake them up."

"You said it yourself; I'm easily beaten up."


	9. Chapter 9

Author's Note: OH NO! ANOTHER JAPANESE NAME? REALLY! …Yarly. XD Here, we are introduced to "No Face!" We are to call him Kaonashi. Okay? And as far as I can tell (what with my research, as little information as I've gotten… -_-), 'No Face' is only the name of the type of spirit he is. However, that's then the name he's given by Chihiro later. So it's what he is and it's also his name. ARGH. If anyone can help clarify that for me, I would be forever grateful.

Also, this chapter is longer than the others because I COULDN'T FIND ANY OTHER PLACE TO STOP. You should all love me. And again, I'm SO SORRY I DIDN'T ANSWER YOUR REVIEWS FML. D**:**

* * *

Chapter 9

Yuu gasped and jerked violently as all the pigs rushed at him, then sighed in relief when he realized it had only been a dream and he was safely on his futon with Jou curled around him like an extra blanket. He let his eyes drift closed for a moment to relax, then frowned when he only heard his friend's quiet snores. Opening his eyes again, he looked around, then sat up slightly in confusion. "Where is everybody…?"

Extracting himself from the blond's arms, he stood up and looked around; all of the futons were empty, the quilts carelessly thrown off. But that wasn't right. They always put their futons away before going to work. Yuu sighed and walked out onto the porch and peered out at the water. "Wow, it really is like a sea." He leaned onto the railing and stared out over the water for a few moments, then turned his head. "…There's Mom and Grandpa's pig pen…" His eyes drifted slightly to the left. Seeing smoking coming from the metal chimney, however, he jerked upright. "Kamajii lit the boilers already?"

Scrambling back into the bathhouse, he accidentally gave Jou a swift kick in the ribs as he hurried to put on his pants.

Jou let out a yelp and sat up quickly. "Ow!"

"Sorry, Jou-kun! But Kamajii lit the boiler already and everyone else is downstairs!"

"_Ack!_" The blond began scrambling for his clothes as well.

Pounding down the stairs, they stopped at one of the landings to get their bearings and to perhaps spot Mai. What they saw, however, was nothing like they'd expected. The other workers were running back and forth with dishes of food or empty dishes, talking loudly and laughing but still working as quickly as possible. They'd never worked so cheerfully!

"Yuu! Jou!"

The two boys turned and blinked innocently to find Mai coming up the stairs, smiling. They'd never seen her so happy, either. "I was just coming to wake you!" she continued breathlessly, then pulled something out of her apron. "Look! It's real gold. This new customer's giving it away by the handful!"

"Wow!" Jou exclaimed, surprised. "That's sorta weird, isn't it?"

"Who's the new customer?" Yuu asked.

Mai snorted. "Who cares? It's free gold!"

The blond tilted his head as he remembered the gold in his own apron. "Hey, Mai, has Seth come back yet?"

She rolled her eyes as she began down the stairs again. "Who cares? He'll come back whenever he does; he pretty much runs at his own pace."

"Mai, let's go get some more gold!"

"Right!"

Jou raised an eyebrow. "…I got a bad feeling about this."

Yuu sighed and crossed his arms. "Me too." He glanced at all of the people surging toward what he supposed was the bath the new customer was in, then sighed again. "Well, we'll never be able to make it through that throng of people." He paused, then smirked a little. "So, why were you asking about Seth when you claim you hate him?"

"…SHUT UP." The blond blushed and crossed his arms, huffing in embarrassment. "…I-I was just wondering…" He did not mention the erotic dreams. He would die first.

"Well, let's go put our futon away while we wait," Yuu sighed, turning to head back up the stairs. "I wonder where Yami goes, too. He didn't go with Seth when he left for his mission, but he can't be going too far—but far enough that Seth doesn't know where. That leaves, like…"

"EVERYWHERE."

Yuu chuckled a little at Jou's miffed answer and began folding up his quilt. "Oh! Why don't you take a peek outside! It really does look like a sea!"

Jou tilted his head slightly, raising an eyebrow in disbelief, before turning to walk outside. "Wow! I thought it looked bad last night, but—" He cut himself off as something fluttered in the distance. After staring at it a moment, he called, "Yuu, come look at this bird. It looks like it's having some sort of fit."

The smaller boy made his way out as well and peered out at the bird. "…I guess it is. Hey, come help me with the futon, will you?"

"Yeah, alright," the blond sighed, turning to follow him, and spared one last glance toward the bird. Glancing back at it, however, he paused, then slowly turned back to it. "…Seth…?"

Yuu turned and blinked back at him. "Where?"

"The bird having a conniption fit. Is that Seth?"

The smaller boy walked closer to the railing and squinted out at it. "…I think it is. But what's wrong with him?"

"I don't know." Jou tilted his head, then climbed up on the railing and cupped his hands around his mouth. "HEY! SETH! OVER HERE!"

The white bird came closer, and they found that it was, indeed, Seth. The only reason he'd looked like a bird was because he was so far away; the only reason he'd looked like he was having a seizure in midair was because he was being attacked by what _did_ look like actual birds. And they were hurting him!

"Agh! What are we gonna do! What do we do?" the blond shrieked, pointing at him.

"SETH! TRY DIVING UNDERWATER!" Yuu shouted, and was pleased to see that he was listening.

Seth dove under the water and used his wings as fins, pulling his legs up to his body tightly as he shot through the water like any fish would. However, the birds were following just above the water, waiting for when the reptile would have to come up for air. The dragon paused he met the wall of the bathhouse, then surfaced, flapping his wings and slapping the water violently as he forced himself into the air again—luckily smashing some of the birds into the water at the same time.

Jou yelped and jerked away from the rail, tugging Yuu back with him as the dragon went flapping upward. The wind caused by his wings would have knocked them down anyway. Seth let out a roar as the birds began attacking anew.

"…Well that didn't help!"

"Open the doors so he can get in!"

The two boys scrambled to open the doors wide enough to hopefully allow his body inside. Then, the blond stood up on the rail again. "SETH! OVER HERE!"

The dragon let out a weak roar but turned sharply, flapping as quickly as he was able. Then, he pressed his wings to his body in semi-dive and just barely scraped through the open doors. The two humans scrambled to close the doors then, but the birds were only a moment behind.

Jou let out a squawk as the birds began slapping up against him and sticking, and he began frantically tearing them away from his face as he finally slammed the door against the one Yuu was pushing. A moment later, however, he pulled his hand away from his face and looked down at his hand, eyebrows drawing together in confusion when he saw the crumpled paper clenched in it.

Yuu frowned and brushed some of the paper shaped like bird-shadows off of him. "They're just paper."

"…Well, paper cuts really hurt," the blond began, frowning as well, then turned to look at the others that had pasted themselves to the doors. They began drifting away, as if giving up now that they realized they couldn't get at the dragon. Spinning back toward Seth in concern, he gasped softly as he saw blood dripping from the white jaws. "Seth! You're hurt!"

Seth took a moment to sit up and looked at them intensely, blood still dripping onto the futons and quilts he'd landed on, before letting out a loud roar and lunging for the doors again. The two humans could only duck, luckily just missing being crushed by violently flapping wings. Jou flinched as he heard the spatter of blood and turned, eyes widening in horror at the amount of blood on the floor and railing—and the splinters of the wall that were left from Seth crashing through them.

Yuu scrambled to the railing and peered upward. "He went in that top window! We have to help him, Jou-kun!"

Jou rushed over to the railing and looked up as well. "…Seth is really hurt, Yuu…"

"So come _on!_" the smaller boy ordered, grabbing his wrist and pulling him toward the stairs. "Before he bleeds to death!"

"Right!" The blond stumbled after him, then hurried to get his balance.

After a moment, he joined his friend in frantically climbing the stairs. When they got to the landing, however, they were confronted with the problem of getting through the mob of bathhouse workers brandishing boxes and asking for tips. Jou hesitated for a moment before shouldering his way through roughly. "Keep behind me, Yuu."

"Okay!" Yuu replied, catching the back of his shirt.

Once Jou had elbowed his way through the throng and had escaped relatively unharmed (someone had stepped on his toe really hard, but he figured it was an accident from all of the jostling), he ran to the elevator and zipped around the corner, only to bash into one of the frog workers. "Ow!"

"Hey, what are you doing in here!" the frog asked, shoving him away in offense.

The blond frowned. "…Going upstairs. It's what the elevator's for."

"Oh no you're not!" the frog exclaimed, moving to throw him out of the elevator.

Yuu frowned as the blond only blinked before cringing as his friend's face contorted into a dangerous glare—almost as bad as a dragony Seth's glare would be. He frantically scrambled out of the elevator. "Eek!"

Jou growled loudly and grabbed the collar of the frog's shirt. "Bite me." Then, turning, he used his weight and strength to throw the offender out of the elevator. As the frog hit the ground, he turned his attention back on his friend and scowled. "I have the feeling that Yami's going to be here soon. Go wait for him, take him to see Kamajii so that I can talk to him later. I need to go to Seth."

Yuu nodded quickly in determination. "Right! Good luck, Jou-kun!"

The blond saluted him before pulling the lever, and he disappeared behind the doors as they slid shut.

The smaller boy paused to say a little prayer under his breath before turning to run back to the stairs—this time, to go down. He let out a little squeak as he came face to face with Otogi, however, and the famous new customer behind him—the spirit that had helped him get bath tokens.

Otogi moved his hand in a 'shoo' motion. "Get out of the way! Our customer's coming through here!"

Yuu blinked at him for a moment, then looked back up at the masked spirit and hurriedly gave him a quick bow. "Thank you for your help earlier!"

The raven-haired feline's tail bristled. "Don't talk to him so familiarly, you filthy hum—_ack!_" Otogi suddenly found himself flying through the air and colliding with some of the workers.

The smaller feline squeaked in distress and brought his hands up to cover his mouth, then looked up at the faceless spirit quickly, only to find it already holding its cupped hands out to him. He gasped quietly as the hands began to fill with gold until the nuggets overflowed and clattered to the ground. It made an offering motion, holding the yellow metal out to him even more.

Yuu blinked in confusion. "Is this for me?" He only got another offering motion. He jerked his head to the side, ear twitching, as he heard a loud shriek—Yami's eagle-like call. Glancing back at the gold, he looked back up at the spirit and shook his head. "I don't want any, but thank you. I'm in a very big hurry, so I need to go now," he added, then ran around him and immediately went for the stairs.

As he ran, he heard the gold clattering on the wooden floor, and suddenly he had to shoulder his way through the hoard of workers rushing to greedily pick up all of the fallen gold. Eventually, though, he made his way to the stairs and began his descent.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Jou looked around in confusion; when Yu-Baaba had tugged them around with her magic, he'd been much too busy struggling to actually remember the directions to her office, which he assumed was where Seth would go after finishing a mission for her. Deciding that running around until he found it was the best option, he began running, though he was sure he'd passed that ugly vase a few times, and that mirror looked much too familiar for his comfort.

He yelped as the floor gave under his foot and pitched forward, flinching a little as he prepared himself for oncoming pain. He was surprised, however, when his face collided with something soft—as did the rest of his body. He blinked, then gently patted whatever he'd landed on. When he couldn't surmise what the hell it was, he sat up and looked down, then peered at his surroundings in confusion.

The room was like one giant pillow. The floor was covered with green cushions, going halfway up the walls until they gave way to different scenes of lands far away in fairy tales, and on the ceiling, a sky with a sun. There were dozens of chairs and toys and dolls everywhere, and even some unopened presents. It looked like a child's room. Perhaps this was the baby's play room?

"—We're in a mess!"

Jou gasped quietly and turned his head, then ran over to the curtains on the other side of the room, where he'd heard the bath crone's voice coming from.

"I've found out who are rich guest his. It's a kaonashi! It's all your fault you're so greedy."

Jou peeked through the curtains cautiously, then crept forward when he saw the set of doors, peering through the crack left open. The old lady was at her desk, talking into something—probably a phone.

"You attract terrible guests. I'm on my way. Don't let him eat anyone else until I get down there."

He flinched a little as she hung up with a clang. However, he immediately felt himself filling with rage as he saw her turn and grimace with disgust.

"Ugh, Seth is bleeding all over the carpet. Get him out of here; he'll be dead soon anyway."

He had half a mind to go in there and bash her over the head—but then she was turning toward the door—and walking toward him!

"Eep!" Jou scrambled back into the baby's playroom, looking around frantically for a place to hide. Luckily, there was a pile of cushions and pillows nearby, so he hurriedly dug himself inside and curled up in a ball, hoping she wouldn't notice him there.

He felt terror freezing his blood as he felt and heard the cushions of his hiding place being moved, but that feeling of terror faded when he finally heard the small cries of a baby.

"Oh, hi sweetie. Hiding under the cushions again?" There were more cries. "Oh, I woke you up and you were sound asleep! I'm sorry; let me give you a kiss!"

Jou vaguely felt a little jealous; his mother had never done that for him—and his father certainly hadn't.

"Go back to sleep now." There were rustles as he assumed she picked up some things, then a long, low hum of something mechanical; he assumed it was something to control the lights when the room got considerably darker. Then there was the rustle of curtains falling closed.

He waited a few moments before beginning to wriggle out from underneath the cushions. His stealthy escape, however, was foiled when he felt something clamp around his arm and yank him back under. "ACK!" He whimpered as the grip aggravated the bruises still healing on his arm and squirmed. "Ow! That HURTS—Whoa, you're a big baby!" he exclaimed in surprise, once he was met with a face that was almost as big as Yuu was. Shaking off his surprise when he remembered that Seth was bleeding all over the carpet, he asked, "Would you let go of me? I'm sort of in a big hurry."

The baby scowled. "You came in here to make me sick."

"…Wha?" Jou blinked in confusion.

"You're a bad germ from outside, aren't you?" the baby continued, as if he hadn't spoken.

The blond immediately took offense; he may have been a little on the scruffy side, but he was no germ! "I'm not a germ, I'm a human! Now would you let go? I have to go!"

The baby did an immediate three-sixty. "You'll get sick if you go outside. So stay here and play with me. My name's Boh."

Jou frowned, brows furrowing together in confusion. "I'm Jou. But, you won't get sick by going outside."

"Yes you will," Boh replied simply, as if it were obvious. "That's why I've never left this room."

"Staying in this room is what will make you sick! Now will you _please_ let go?" the blond snapped, glaring at him.

"If you won't stay here and play with me then I'll cry, and Mama will come in here and kill you," the baby argued, glaring back at him. Ignoring the blond's outraged squawk, he began giving his arm a twist. "Play with me or I'll break your arm."

Jou winced—but it didn't hurt as bad as some of his past injuries. "That hurts! You spoiled little bastard—I'll play with you later, okay?"

"No! I wanna play now!"

The blond shot him a venomous glare, then lifted his other hand to show the dried blood there, making him gasp in surprise. "GERMS! I've got germs, see?" The baby finally let go—and began to scream.

Jou vaguely worried about Yu-Baaba coming back up, but ignored the thought in favor of scrambling out of the cushions and running into the old crone's office. He gasped as he saw the three green heads pushing the dragon's limp body toward a gaping hole in the floor and ran over to them. "Seth! What the hell are you doing? Get away!" He knelt by the dragon's head and laid his hand just above his eye, stroking the scales worriedly. "Seth, are you okay?"

He felt his eyebrow twitch as the three heads began mumbling behind him, then turned toward them sharply. "SHUT THE HELL UP!" They peered up at him in surprise at his outburst, but he ignored it in favor of giving his attention back to Seth. "Seth, say something! Se—_Son of a bitch!_"

He covered his cheek as something scratched it violently and felt a little blood trickling down, then looked up to see the little Yu-bird grinning at him in a decidedly menacing way. "You jerk—HEY! Stop that!" he roared when he realized the heads were trying to push Seth over the edge again. He yelped as the bird swooped back at him and began attacking his head, swatting at it with one hand as he slid his other arm around the dragon's thin but powerful neck. "Stop it!"

The violence and pushing ended abruptly as they all heard a crash; the heads turned to face the opposite direction, and the bird even paused in its attacks to look that way as well. Taking their cue, the blond also turned, eyes widening in surprise as he saw Boh walking toward them, panting a little at the effort.

Coming to a stop a few feet away from them, he paused, then glared at them. "I'm not afraid of germs. If you don't play with me, I'll cry."

Jou squeaked. He didn't need that on top of everything else. "Please don't cry! Just wait a minute, okay?"

Boh scowled, tears forming in his eyes. "Right now, or I'll start crying!" he exclaimed, then began to make small wailing sounds in order to build up into screams.

"Don't cry! Don't cry!" the blond yelped frantically. He gasped quietly as one of the paper birds lifted itself from his shoulder and turned his attention on it instead.

The paper began drifting away. "What a spoiled brat." It flew up to rest in front of Boh's face. "Shut your big mouth." The baby obeyed, but probably only because he was surprised. "Well, you're a bit of a porker, aren't you?" the paper added, taking one circle around him, before drifting over to set its point on the floor; then, it collapsed like the flimsy piece of paper it was, leaving a spectral figure to pop up from the floor—that looked just like Yu-Baaba. She took a moment to examine herself and huffed quietly. "Hmm. Still see-through."

Boh frowned in confusion. "Mama?"

The woman—who did resemble his mother very much—looked up at him. "You pea brain. Can't you even recognize me from your own mother?" She paused, then lifted a finger and tapped it in his direction.

Jou could only watch in horror as the large baby turned into a tiny mouse. "Nck!"

The Yu-Baaba look-alike smiled. "There, now. Your body matches your brain." She turned to look at the others. "Now, what else can we mess with?"

The three heads began stealthily moving away, and the bird flew higher, but she'd already seen them. With a wave of her hand, the bird shrank into what looked like a fly. However, it still had a beak and what looked like feathers; it may have been better looking, but it was still forced into a form that wasn't its own, and it quickly fell to the ground. It paused, then hopped over to the baby-turned-mouse. The three heads nearly made it to the other side of the room before they were forced into a totem, one on top of the other, and their shapes shifted into a Boh look-alike.

Jou gasped quietly at all the happenings as the woman laughed, then turned toward her suspiciously, curling around the dragon's neck in a small hope of protecting him. "What the hell, lady?"

She paused in her laughing before turning back to him. "This is our little secret; you tell anyone else and I'll rip your mouth out."

"…Like to see you try…" the blond mumbled, then huffed. "Who are you, anyway?"

"I'm Zeniiba, Yu-Baaba's twin sister. It was nice of you to lead me straight to this dragon's hiding place. Now hand him over to me."

Jou scowled. "What do you want with him? He's hurt and needs help!"

She huffed. "That's too bad for him. He stole my solid gold seal. It's magical—powerfully magical. And I want it back!"

"…But… but he must have had a good reason. And even if he did have it, he doesn't have it now! He probably lost it when he was running from those bird-things!" the blond exclaimed, frowning.

"Not likely, otherwise they would have found it and brought it back. Now hand him over," Zeniiba demanded again. "He became my sister's apprentice to be able to steal her magic secrets and now he's stolen mine too. He's a greedy little thief! There's nothing good about him." She made a dismissive gesture. "Now stand aside. I'm going to take my seal back from him. There's a spell on the seal, and anyone who steals it will die."

Jou immediately bristled at that. "You can't just decide—"

His statement was cut off by a loud slam and the floor jumping beneath him. Turning, they found the heads-turned-Boh and crawling toward them, hands slamming on the ground in an attempt to crush Boh-turned-mouse and bird-turned-fly-thing. The mouse and fly-thing were scurrying away as best as they could, but each slam of the pudgy hands kept throwing them forward.

Zeniiba scowled and turned toward them. "You idiots—stop making that racket! Do you want my sister to come back up here and find us?"

Boh hurriedly scrambled up onto the blond's shoulder, grunting at the effort, but determined to find safety.

During all the commotion, a dark, fuzzy blue eye peeled open and glanced around. Seth let out an angry rumble and immediately jerked his body to thrash his tail around, slapping it across the paper and shredding it with his scales.

"Oh, a paper cut!" the crone exclaimed in surprise, as her spectral body split in half before disappearing.

Jou let out a yelp as this thrashing caused him to slip over the edge and pulled hard on his neck to try and pull him back up, but he just wasn't strong enough. "Seth! _Seth!_"

But it appeared that the dragon had passed out again.

Hearing a frantic buzzing, he turned his head to see the Yu-bird flapping its tiny wings wildly, trying to slow Boh's descent. He caught the mouse and bird in his hand and brought them to his neck, where Boh clung to his shirt with an iron grip. Jou climbed up to grab the spikes on the dragon's head and shook him slightly. "Seth! Seth, wake up!"

Jou gasped quietly as he remembered clinging to him like this before—is was wet, he'd been scared, but then he'd been safe. But as quickly as it was there it was gone, and focused on the ground looming closer and closer and—

Seth let out a snarl and spread his wings to catch an updraft—from where, the blond couldn't fathom—to one of the many vents in the flue. Catching the edge with his claws, he used the momentum of his flight to carry him forward, pressing his wings to his body to slim his width as he charged forward through the small tunnel. Plunging over an abrupt edge, he let out a roar as he slammed through the fan before Jou was thrown violently from his back.

The blond only had a split second to yelp before he slammed into Kamajii, who—for an old guy—had caught him pretty quickly and kept him from flying into the boiler. "Ack!"

Seth slammed into the wall of drawers on his way down before finally coming to a stop on wooden floor. He thrashed violently, snarling, before collapsing with a helpless whine.

"Seth!" Jou scrambled to his feet and rushed over to him.

Kamajii let out a startled squawk. "Jou, look out! He's hurt! He could be dangerous!"

"Seth, are you okay?" The blond reached out to touch him, but the dragon snapped and snarled at him before falling limp again. Undaunted, he tried again—and when Seth tried to snap at him again, he kicked him in the nose. "I'M JUST TRYING TO HELP!" Seth let out a whine before ceasing his violent defense. Jou rested his hands on the rounded snout and frowned.

"Hmmm, this looks serious," Kamajii murmured, making his way over on his long arms.

The blond looked up at him quickly. "What do I do? _Is_ there anything I can do?"

"It looks like he's bleeding from the inside," the old man replied.

Jou squeaked and looked back down at the prone dragon. "From the inside?"

Yuu, who had been just been scrambling in the door with Yami when they'd fallen, frowned at the crestfallen look on his friend's face. "Jou-kun, I still have medicine from the river spirit. He can have it."

The blond looked up at him quickly, horrified. "But Yuu, your Mom and Grandpa—"

"How are we going to get them out of here without Seth-san's help?" the smaller boy argued, handing him the small ball of herbs.

Jou hesitated before nodding and taking it from his hand, turning back toward the dragon peering at them through glazed over eyes. "Seth, this is medicine from the river spirit that was here while you were gone. It should help. Just open your mouth." The dragon huffed. The blond bit the medicine in half and tossed the other half back to his friend, pulling out the piece from his mouth. "See, it's good! It won't hurt you!" When the dragon showed no signs of cooperating, he scowled. "OPEN YOUR GODDAMN MOUTH."

Yuu giggled but quickly stifled it as the dragon immediately parted its jaws for the blond to shove the medicine in his mouth. "Snk!"

Yami frowned. "Jou is certainly… forceful."

"You weren't even there to see him throw the guy out of the elevator!"

"Now swallow it!" Jou ordered sternly. "_Do it._"

Eventually, the dragon choked it down, but then it was forced back up—the dragon thrashed and gagged, slamming his tail into the wall of drawers and the floor, cracking some of the boards. After a moment, he spat out a gob of black goo that fell with a splat onto the floor.

The blond turned to look at it in surprise. "What the—"

Once it landed, the goo began to ooze and sizzle into a puddle on the floor to leave a dark spot. Then a little black slug crawled around on the seal before realizing it was being watched. Then, it began squirming frantically away.

"Ack! The slug! Get it, get it!" Kamajii exclaimed, pointing at it.

Jou scrambled to his feet and hurriedly grabbed the seal before chasing after the slug. "Yuu, a little help!"

"Oh! Right!" Yuu exclaimed, before scurrying over to help him try to stomp it.

The slug was too quick for them, though, and quickly made an escape toward the holes in the wall. The susuwatori, however, did not approve, and bristled and squeaked loudly in aggravation to frighten it away. Seeing no other way out, the slug began slithering back toward them, frantically trying to crawl up their legs to perhaps get an aerial escape.

Yuu, an expert squisher of bugs (he couldn't even remember how many times his mother and grandpa had screamed and made him take care of any spiders they found) took careful aim and slammed his foot down on it. He was not prepared, however, for the cold shiver that went through his body before he was washed over with a sense of doom.

Kamajii let out another squawk. "You killed it! Those slugs are bad luck! HURRY, BEFORE IT RUBS OFF ON YOU!"

"What do I do?" he exclaimed frantically.

"Put your thumbs and forefingers together!" the old man ordered. Once the feline had done as told, he reached out to 'cut' them apart. "Evil, be gone!"

The sense of doom passed. Yuu could only blink in wonder before turning his curious gaze on his friend. "What's that, Jou-kun?"

"Huh? Oh! Seth stole this golden seal from Yu-Baaba's sister!" Jou explained, holding it out for them to see.

Kamajii gasped quietly. "Zeniiba's solid gold monogrammed seal! That's as powerful as it gets!"

The blond turned his head as he saw a small movement, then gasped as he saw Seth shifting back into his human form and rushed over to him. "Seth!"

Yami was there first, carefully rolling the brunet onto his back. "Seth? Seth, are you okay?"

"Nngh…"

"Oh! Zeniiba put a curse on the seal!" Jou exclaimed, grabbing his hair and yanking frantically.

"That's strong magic," the boiler man stated, frowning. "It's made him gravely ill."

"Well what do we do?"

"The only thing we can do; make him comfortable and hope for the best."

Once they got him laid out on a futon and Yami had mixed up some tea that would hopefully help with the fever he'd gotten, they could only sit and hope he'd get better.

Kamajii sighed. "Poor Seth. He's had it hard ever since he got here."

Yuu and Jou looked up at him quickly. "Hmm?"

"He just showed up out of nowhere, just like you two," the old man continued. "But he got mixed up with Yu-Baaba, and took a job as her apprentice. I warned him that it was too dangerous; 'Go back home,' I told him. But he said that for some reason, he no longer had a home to go to. Once Yu-Baaba got control of him, his skin turned pale and his eyes went steely. He's never been the same ever since."

Jou was distracted by the susuwatori surrounding the black footprint Yuu had left behind. A moment later, Yu-bird flew Boh over to it. The mouse eyed the footprint, then deliberately stepped in it. He saw the small white body shiver, then put his fingers together. One of the susuwatori broke them for him, and they all cheered when the mouse triumphantly threw his hands up.

This showing of bravery gave him an idea. Looking up at the boiler man quickly, he held up the golden seal. "Kamajii, do you think if I took this back to Zeniiba and apologized for Seth, she'd take the curse off? –She can't be that bad! Can you tell me where she lives, Kamajii?"

Kamajii seemed confused by this. "You'd go see Zeniiba, all by yourself? It might help, but she's one dangerous witch!"

"He wouldn't go alone," Yuu cut in. "I'd go with him. And anything would help, wouldn't it?"

The old man sighed. "I know how you can get there, but you'd have to get back by yourself. Wait here."

The two humans watched him moved over to a cabinet of drawers and begin digging through it before turning their attention back to the prone Seth. Jou reached out and gently brushed his hair out of the brunet's eyes. "…We'll help you, Seth. Just sit tight."

Despite the serious situation, Yuu couldn't help a knowing smirk. "I thought you _hated_ Seth, though, Jou-kun?"

"Will you shut the fuck up?" Jou exclaimed in embarrassment, before standing up and going to look at the susuwatori. "Everyone, could you get our shoes and clothes, please?" He frowned, then hesitantly looked back at his friend. "…I… I'm sorry your mom and grandpa have to wait, Yuu."

The smaller boy blinked at him, then smiled. "Seth has done a lot to help us, Jou-kun. The least we can do is help save his life, right?"

"…You've got to have a bad, selfish bone in your body somewhere. Honestly, your goodness creeps me out sometimes," the blond deadpanned, before Boh and Yu-bird came to land on his shoulder.

The door leading into the boiler room slid open, and suddenly Mai was there. "Yuu, Jou, I've been looking for you _everywhere!_"

Yuu frowned. "Sorry, Mai-san."

"What the he—There's blood everywhere! What happened?" She paused when she saw Seth laid out on the futon and Yami kneeling nearby to keep an eye on him. "…Never mind. I can figure it out myself." She blinked when she saw the mouse and tiny bird on Jou's shoulder. "Who are they?"

"Huh? Oh! I just made some new friends," the blond replied, smiling innocently.

Mai rolled her eyes. "Whatever. Everyone is looking for you—Yu-Baaba is _furious,_" she exclaimed, scowling. "The guy with all of the gold turned out to be a monster called Kaonashi. And he says that you and Yuu let him into the bathhouse!"

Yuu paused in thought before looking up at her in concern. "But, we did."

"WHA—ARE YOU SERIOUS!" she roared.

"Yeah, we thought he was a customer," Jou began nervously; he didn't want her to smack him. "He was just sort of standing out in the rain, and—"

"He's already eaten three people!" Mai exclaimed angrily. "Otogi was one of them!"

"Found it!" Kamajii exclaimed, making his way back over to them.

She glared at him. "Stay out of this old man, I—"

"You can use these," he continued, holding up a string of four train tickets. "I've had them forever. The train used to go both ways, but now it only goes one direction. The stop you want is Swamp Bottom."

"Swamp Bottom," Jou repeated as Yuu took the tickets and tucked them in his pocket.

"It's the sixth stop."

"Sixth stop." Yuu nodded.

"Train tickets? Where the hell did you get those?" Mai exclaimed, frowning.

"I've been saving them for forty years," the boiler man replied.

"Forty years-!"

"We'll walk back along the tracks," Yuu replied, smiling, before rushing over to pick up the clothes and pairs of shoes that the coal dust creatures were offering. "Yami, stay with Seth until he gets better, okay? We'll be back soon."

Mai sighed. "What about Kaonashi?"

Jou smiled at her in a decidedly firm manner—strange for him, the one who wasn't sure of anything other than he was clumsy. "We'll take care of him, too. Will you take our clothes and put them somewhere so we can make a quick escape to the train station?"

"I'll put them in the boat and take you there myself when you're finished," she answered, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "You two better be careful with Kaonashi, though, okay?"

"We will," Yuu answered, smiling at her, before grabbing his friend's hand and pulling him toward the door. "We'll be done as soon as possible! Thank you, Mai-san!"

"You don't have to call me by 'san' anymore, you twerp! I figure we're good enough friends!" she called after them, unable to help an amused smile.

"Yeah, good luck with that," Jou muttered, before he was shoved through the door.

Mai waited until they were gone before turning back to the boiler man and phoenix. "Okay, I can't figure it out myself. What the hell went on here?"

"We learned that Jou is secretly in love with Seth and that Yuu is surprisingly good at squishing things," Yami replied shortly.

She waited for him to continue, then scowled and grabbed the hat that the radish spirit had given her blond coworker to begin slapping him with it. "DON'T THINK YOU CAN JUST GIVE ME THAT HALF-ASSED ANSWER, YOU BASTARD!"


	10. Chapter 10

Author's Note: I noticed that some of you are displeased with how I'm following the movie and even putting in exact lines. :| IIII'm sorry, I thought I'd stated that it was always my intention to follow the movie while also adding in original twists.

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Chapter 10

Jou had faced off with gangsters that scared him more than Kaonashi did at that moment. He could hear the spirit's pudgy body gurgle and splash, could see the dark, translucent flesh jiggle. He could honestly say that despite the mysterious spirit's large size, he was not impressed.

Apparently, his indifference was rolling off him in waves, because he could sense Yuu relaxing next to him, and Boh and Yu-bird had climbed up on his shoulder, cowering against his neck. He wanted to tell Kaonashi to stop being such a jerk and get out of the bathhouse, but he knew that if he did it, he'd probably just end up smacked, and Yu-Baaba had told them—quite forcefully—to get enough money to cover the damages Kaonashi had caused.

Yuu looked down at his lap for a moment before looking back up at Kaonashi. "You wanted to see us, Kaonashi-san?"

The spirit's mouth smiled, showing big, square teeth that made him quite a creepy picture with his white, apathetic mask as he lifted up a bowl of roasted rabbits and said, _"Try this. It's delicious!" _His voice didn't seem to match his mouth, either, and Jou vaguely recognized it as the frog he'd accidentally punched before they'd gotten their jobs there.

When the two boys failed to respond, Kaonashi leaned toward them. _"Want some gold? I'm not giving it to anyone else!"_ When they still didn't answer, he stepped closer, extending his mask on a long, dripping neck. _"What do you want? Just name it and I'll give it to you."_

Yuu straightened his back and calmly stated, "We'd like to leave, Kaonashi-san. We have somewhere else to be and we need to get there as quickly as possible, please." If the spirit had had any blood, they figured it would have blanched, and the gurgling neck began to retract. Yuu continued, "You should probably go back to where you came from now. Yu-Baaba-san doesn't want you in the bathhouse anymore; you're causing a lot of damage and frightening the other workers."

Kaonashi's neck withdrew even more, his mask jiggling on his body. He gurgled a moment, then growled in frustration. Jou felt Boh cower at the back of his neck.

Yuu frowned. "Where did you come from? Don't you have any friends or family to go back to? Don't they miss you?"

The spirit gurgled again, and the two humans were startled when his mask sank into his body, hiding from view even as he continued to speak. _"No. No! I'm lonely. So lonely!"_ He stepped closer.

Jou squeaked and scrambled to his feet, standing in front of his friend protectively as they moved back up against the door as he quickly whispered, "Stay behind me, Yuu."

Yuu nodded to show he understood, then looked up at the spirit again. "What is it that you want, Kaonashi-san?"

"_I want Yuu. I want Jou!"_ His mask began to reappear out of the gelled mass that was his body. He shoved his hand toward them, filling it with gold. _"Take the gold. TAKE IT!"_

Yuu squeaked. "Are you going to eat us?"

Jou swallowed nervously as the spirit's fingers circled his head and neck, flinching nervously as the gold was shoved into his face. "I-I already have some-!"

_**Chu!**_ Boh chomped down on Kaonashi's hand fiercely and was dragged from the blond's shoulders.

Jou gasped and covered his eyes when the spirit went to smack the mouse like a fly, unwilling to watch it happen, but then he heard buzzing. Uncovering his face, he heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Yu-bird flying the mouse back toward them. He was even more relieved when they took refuge on Yuu's shoulder instead, the safer place, in his opinion.

Well, at least until Yuu stepped out from behind him. "Yuu-!"

The smaller boy lifted his hand to quiet him, then looked up at Kaonashi again, frowning. "If you're going to eat us, perhaps you should eat this first." He pulled out the other half of the medicine the river spirit had left with him. "I was saving this for my mom and grandpa, but I think you may need it more," he added, stepping forward. He tossed the medicine into his mouth.

Jou remembered what had happened with Seth, and he worried that the same thing would happen here on a grander scale. He knew his worries were founded when Kaonashi gagged and vomited a black sludge. "Shit. Yuu." He grabbed his friends by the shoulders and scowled at him. "Go meet Mai outside. Whatever you do, don't look back, and just keep on running, okay? Take Boh and the bird with you."

The feline ears on the smaller boy's head twitched. "But what about you—" His eyes widened when the blond lifted his hand and clenched it into a fist, each knuckle cracking and popping in a way that he could only describe as ominous. "…Oh. But—"

"_YUU! WHAT DID YOU DO TO ME!"_ Kaonashi roared, his mouth sputtering and spitting out black ooze before he vomited again.

Jou threw the door open and shoved his friend out. "GO!"

"You better meet us at the bottom, Jou-kun!" Yuu exclaimed over his shoulder.

The blond nodded once to show he heard, then turned a glare on the spirit, eyes widening when he realized that the more he threw up, the smaller his body became. He waited until he was sure his friend had gotten a decent head start before snapping, "You want me, Kaonashi? Come and get me!"

Kaonashi roared as the blond ran out the still open door and began after him, leaving a trail of black ooze and sludge behind him. _"JOU!"_

Jou knew that if he stopped and looked back, he'd be giving the spirit a chance to catch up to him, so he threw every ounce of energy he had into running—and _only_ running. He would not allow that monster a chance to devour him when Yuu had just used the last of his medicine on Kaonashi rather than his mother and grandfather. He had to meet him and get to the train. They'd promised Seth that they'd help him, and then they had to get home—

So he _couldn't_ die.

That's why he kept running, even when Yu-Baaba stepped in and used her magic to try to stop him. He did, however, pause when he got to the next floor down. Catching his breath as he watched Kaonashi lean over the railing and vomit some more, he cringed when he saw that the old crone had been covered in the sludge that continued to spew from the spirit's mouth. "That is so… gross…" He shuddered. "Ew…"

But Kaonashi was catching his breath too, in between heaves, even as his body grew smaller still.

Jou stuck his fingers in his mouth and blew a shrill whistle and, once he got the faceless spirit's attention, he began to run again, down the next set of stairs. Hearing the wet slaps of the spirit following growing closer, he peeked over his shoulder, scowling when he saw that he'd somehow managed to crawl down the wall onto the floor he'd been on. _'Somehow, that feels a lot like cheating.'_

Despite that, he continued to run, pounding down the steps as quickly as he was capable. He used the post at the bottom of the stairs to keep his momentum and spun around to take the next flight of stairs, fighting down a shudder of disgust as he heard Kaonashi's body _slurp_ and _drip_. It was so disgusting, he didn't even know what to—

_WALL!_

Yelping as he smacked into the outside wall of the elevator, he groaned quietly and leaned back to rub his nose. Then he remembered that Kaonashi was right behind him, and he quickly dove to the side, just in time to watch the mask smack into the wall, quickly followed by the smaller and not-as-jiggly body. He scurried toward the door to the kitchen but paused when he realized that the spirit was leaning against the wall and panting.

Kaonashi jerked, then huffed before opening his large mouth and spat out first one bath worker that Jou didn't recognize, then Otogi, the feline he didn't really like but that he acknowledged hadn't really deserved to be eaten.

And he couldn't help but feel amused when the black-haired man immediately jumped up and began ripping his sopping-wet clothes off, hissing about being filthy and _gross_ and what the hell he'd seen an esophagus twice what was going on ew!

…Jou realized that he was petty. But he didn't care one bit.

"_I'll get you for this, Yuu,"_ Kaonashi muttered, coughing up some more black spittle, then turned to resume the chase. _"You and Jou."_

Jou began to run again, but when he noticed that the spirit's pace had slowed significantly, he paused. He tilted his head awkwardly, scampering ahead a few feet and looking back.

…Kaonashi hadn't been so bad before, and he'd helped Yuu get a bath token. He'd even brought them more bath tokens when they weren't necessarily needed.

He slowed to a walk and continued to look back at the masked wraith as they made it out of the kitchen and through the hallway that led to a door to the outside. He cringed when the spirit paused to throw up a bit more, but returned to his normal size.

Kaonashi really hadn't been bad until he'd started offering everyone else gold and they'd gone crazy trying to please him for more. Jou knew firsthand that that money could drive people to do things they wouldn't normally do. Perhaps he just needed to get away from everyone.

Jou opened the door and stepped outside, then peered back toward Kaonashi, several yards behind him. "…I'll leave this open for you," he called to him. "Close it behind you, okay?"

"Jou!" Mai called. "Over here!"

The blond turned, then smiled and waved to show he'd heard her and began climbing and jumping down the cement to the little dock. He was pretty proud of how well he was doing. He hadn't tripped or fallen since he'd run out of the room from the faceless spirit, and now—

He yelped as his pant leg got caught on a nail of the deck, jerking him and causing him to face plant on the wood. "Ow!"

Yuu sighed and covered his eyes. "I'll just pretend I didn't see that…"

Mai reached over to grab the back of his shirt and dragged him into the little tub of a boat. "Hurry up and get dressed, you klutz."

"Jeez, even after I get Kaonashi out of the bathhouse, you're mean," Jou complained, sitting up, but began to pull his shirt off and change into the clothes he'd arrived in. "I think he just needs to get out of there."

Yuu frowned thoughtfully. "You think so? …I guess you're right." He turned to look back at where Jou had come from to see Kaonashi standing and looking around, as if confused. "Hey! Kaonashi-san! Over here!" He yelped as the older blonde immediately turned and smacked him in the head. "Ow!"

"Idiot, don't call him over here!" Mai exclaimed, glaring at him, then sighed in frustration as they watched the masked spirit jump from the pipe he was standing on and into the water. "Great, now look what you did. He's following us."

Jou sat up and frowned as he peeked over the edge of the boat. "I don't think he'll hurt us. I think it was everyone else making him crazy, wanting all that gold."

"Well, where else are we going to get gold?" she complained, then huffed and began rocking oar harder. "You guys are too heavy. I can only get you this far." She brought the boat up next to the tracks. "But you can get there by walking. Just following the tracks to the station; it's not that far."

Yuu scooped Boh and Yu-bird onto his shoulder and nodded as he grabbed his shoes. "Okay. Thank you, Mai-san."

"Just, try not to kill yourselves," she sighed, grabbing the back of the other boy's jacket to hold him steady as he got out. "You especially, Jou."

"Shhh!" He glared at her. "I am perfectly capable of keeping myself safe!"

"…Right." Mai rolled her eyes as she began rowing away from the tracks. "Sure. Just make sure you come back in one piece!"

Yuu smiled at her. "We will."

"Good. At least one of you can take care of himself," she muttered, laughing a little when the other blond scowled and splashed water at her with his foot. "I'll be waiting for you guys, okay?"

"'Kay!"

Mai's smile faded as she watched the two humans walking down the tracks, though she was slightly amused when she saw Jou's tail wagging slightly as he began to run down the tracks and jump, creating a big splash like he was some sort of child. Then her eyes caught on the mask-wearing spirit traveling down the tracks as well, and she _scowled._ "Kaonashi, if you harm one hair on either of those boys' heads, I'm gonna hunt you down and rip you apart!" she barked, and she liked to think she saw the spirit shudder.

Yuu shaded his eyes from the sun for a moment, then smiled and pointed at the large stone island beside the tracks. "Jou-kun, look! There's the station!"

"Aw, come on. I just made a humongous splash!" the blond complained.

The smaller boy scowled at him. "_Jou-kun._" The 'this is _serious_' went unspoken, but the blond heard it loud and clear.

Sighing, the taller boy trudged toward it. "Fine…"

"Listen, we'll just have to go to the beach sometime and splash there, okay? Hurry up."

Grumbling, Jou followed him up onto the platform, but he had to smile when he saw Yu-bird and Boh looking at a crab on the side of the stone island. "See, the outside isn't so bad. Yuu! Look! THE TRAIN!"

Yuu couldn't help a laugh as the blond hurried to shove his shoes on. "You like trains don't you, Jou-kun?"

"My sister and I used to ride them all the time when we were kids," the blond replied. "Come on, Boh. You got the tickets, Yuu?"

"Yeah, in my pocket," the smaller boy answered, pulling the set of four tickets out. He ran up to the door of the train as it slid open and looked up at the ticket man. "We'd like to go to Swamp Bottom, please."

Jou smiled as the mouse and fly-like bird landed on his shoulder and the ticket master silently counted them. When he saw the ticket master's finger point behind him, though, he turned in surprise. "Kaonashi? Did you want to come too?"

Yuu frowned. "But we only have four tickets."

"That's okay." The blond pulled out the little bag of gold the river spirit had given him. "I think I can pay for it." When the ticket master held up another set of four tickets, he frowned. "I have to buy another set? …Okay, I guess. I can just give the leftover tickets to Mai. She said she wanted to leave, but didn't want to do it without Otogi and Honda…"

He held out the sack of gold and allowed the ticket man to dig out as much was needed for the tickets, then watched as he shredded the tickets from Kamajii and one of the tickets from the roll he'd just bought. Then he took the rest of his tickets and put them in his pocket. "Thank you."

Yuu looked around the compartment as the train began to move again, then glanced at Boh and Yu-bird, who were looking around excitedly. Spotting a few seats they could take, he moved over and took one, allowing the mouse and miniature bird to climb onto the windowsill and watch as the watered-down countryside flew by. He smiled as his friend sat down beside him, then looked back at Kaonashi, who was looking around awkwardly. "Kaonashi-san, come sit here. …Behave yourself," he added as the mask-wearing spirit sat beside him.

Jou sighed and rested his arms along the back of the seat. "…Swamp Bottom," he muttered, leaning his head back against the window.

"Sixth stop," Yuu replied.

.-.-.-.-.-.

_Seth, are you okay? Seth, wake up!_

Seth frowned as he blinked his eyes open. He supposed he should feel achy or something, from what he remembered, but he didn't. He felt… great. Better than he had in a while. Sitting up slowly, he looked around and frowned when he saw Yami perched on one of the drawers that had been pulled out, head tucked under his wing in sleep.

He was out of reach to bother without waking up Kamajii anyway, so he walked over and shook the old man's shoulder gently. "Kamajii. Kamajii, wake up."

The boiler man snorted and jerked awake in surprise, then huffed in disgruntlement at being woken. When he saw who had woken him, however, his ire faded. "Seth, you're alright."

"I'm fine." Seth glanced around and frowned. "Where are Jou and Yuu? Are they alright? Did they go somewhere?" He looked back at Kamajii in concern. "I took a look around the bathhouse. Things are destroyed, and there's a huge mess all over the floors. What's going on?"

Kamajii sat up and grunted as his old bones protested his sitting position. "You blacked out, remember?"

"…I remember darkness," the brunet replied quietly. "I remember hearing Jou's voice, maybe Yuu's. They were calling my name. I followed their voices through the darkness until I woke up here. I feel… good. I feel better than I ever have."

"Hmm, love. It broke Zeniiba's spell. Jou and Yuu left to take the golden seal you took back to Zeniiba." When the brunet appeared struck by that statement, the old man continued, "It was Jou's idea. They did it to save you."

Seth frowned, rocking back on his heels. "…They don't even know me."

"They know you're a good person," Kamajii replied. "That's all _they_ needed."

"…I see," the dragon-man stated, standing up swiftly. "I know what I need to do now. Thank you, Kamajii." He turned to exit the boiler room, then paused as he glimpsed Yami's colorful plumage. "…Let me take care of that for you," he offered, then slammed his fist against the wall, knocking the bird from his perch.

Yami let out a startled squawk as he tumbled to the floor, turning into a human to try and break his fall with his hands. "WAUGH!" Panting, he got to his feet and glared at the brunet. "What is the _matter_ with you?"

The brunet crossed his arms. "I've answered that question numerous times. Please, don't make me list them again. I want you ready to leave for Zeniiba's home after I speak with Yu-Baaba."

The phoenix grumbled and dusted himself off. "Right. I'll be outside."

Seth frowned. "One last question." He pointed at the large, dark splatter down where the susuwatari usually occupied. "What is that?"

.-.-.-.-.-.

"This gold doesn't even come _close_ to covering the damages that stupid Kaonashi caused. Yuu and Jou didn't get nearly enough; they'll have to be punished," Yu-Baaba stated.

The frog spirit cringed. "Madame? Jou and Yuu were the ones that rescued us."

Otogi shuddered at the reminder but nodded in agreement. "That's true."

She glared at both of them. "So what? This entire mess is their fault! And now they've run away from here." She growled in annoyance. "They've abandoned their family. Those pigs should be fat enough by now; turn them into bacon!"

Otogi and the frog spirit cringed back, horrified at the suggestion but too afraid to argue. Honda, however, looked up at her and quite flatly replied, "No."

Yu-Baaba was momentarily taken aback, and even her son paused in his gorging to stare at him. She regained control of herself quickly, though, and glared at him. "What did you just say?"

"I said, no." He sat up straight and scowled. "They don't deserve that, and I refuse to do it."

The bath crone stood and slammed her hands on the table. "You dare defy me after all I've done for you?"

At that, Otogi finally bristled. "You haven't done _anything_ for us. We do what you tell us to, but you have us do all your dirty work between the workers and the customers. We do the hard things and _you_ take all the profit. You're not doing anything for us—we're doing _everything_ for you!"

Yu-Baaba's power flared angrily, but she was momentarily surprised when the felines' auras grew as well, and she remembered that cat spirits could be just as dangerous as fox spirits.

Seth used that pause to step into the room. "Allow me to cut your conversation short for a moment." He couldn't help a smirk as the two felines and the frog spirit gasped in surprise and walked further into the room.

"Seth, you're still alive?" She looked even more surprised by that. "What do you want?"

The brunet narrowed his eyes. "I'd say you have sharp observation skills, but since you've failed to realize even now that something precious to you has been replaced, that statement would be false."

Yu-Baaba snorted. "Don't get fresh with _me,_ Seth. Since when are you so disrespectful to your master?"

"My master." Seth raised an eyebrow and hummed. "Right."

Something about his expression set her on edge. She examined a piece of gold from the pile that had been collected, but when she saw nothing amiss about that, she smirked at the brunet. When his steely gaze didn't waver, she paused, then glanced at her son, who had resumed eating. She narrowed her eyes and moved her hand in a familiar zipping motion.

Boh's head immediately twisted out of shape as he bashed his fist into his suddenly-closed mouth. The ogre head paused, then grunted as its body twisted out of shape into the other two heads. They took their escape immediately.

Yu-Baaba gaped, horrified. "My… baby…"

Seth watched the gold shrivel into dirt and couldn't help a snort as she roared and flipped the table, charging into her son's room. "I imagine the same thing has happened to everyone else's tips, too," he mused, and watched Honda and Otogi immediately pull dirt out of their pockets. Before they could get distressed, however, he began walking toward the nursery. "Don't worry, Otogi, Honda. Things will work out, if unexpectedly."

He watched the old crone rush around, growing more and more frantic when she couldn't find her son, and he couldn't help but feel a pang of guilt; he would do the same if his brother were missing. …If… he had contact with his brother, anyway…

Yu-Baaba turned toward him and roared, eyes bulging out as fire began to crackle from her mouth. "_YOU!_" The towel around her head was whipped off as the fire blazed brighter, and she rushed at him, hair twisting about like tentacles to wrap around the brunet's body and throat. "_WHAT DID YOU DO WITH MY BABY?_"

Seth snorted in contempt. "He's with your sister."

The fire from her mouth extinguished immediately, just as her rage did; her hair immediately unwrapped from around him and fell limp. "_Zeniiba?_" She looked dazed for a moment, and trudged over to a chair nearby, which knelt to allow her to sit down. Then, she sighed, and she chuckled bitterly. "Very clever, Seth. You'll bring my baby back, but at a price."

"Of course," he replied casually. "I learned from you."

She huffed. "Alright. What do you want?"

Seth's cavalier expression immediately faded. "I want you to tear up Yuu and Jou's contracts and return them to their human forms. Then I want you to return Yuu, Jou, and Yuu's mother and grandfather back to the human world."

The witch smirked. "Fine, but on one condition. I get to give those boys one final test. If either of them fail, they're _mine._"

The brunet's eyes darkened. "I accept your terms. However, you will find that if they fail your test, I will become the sharpest, most irritating thorn in your side," he replied, lips twisting into a cruel smirk. "It seems that when I expelled your sister's golden seal, I also spat out some sort of slug. That slug tried to escape, but in the end was destroyed." He saw her eyes widen and couldn't help a wicked laugh of his own. "You may have a contract with me, but you can no longer control me as you did before."

The way she cursed at him was quite satisfying.


	11. Chapter 11

Author's Note: SO. I've changed Yu-Bird to Yu-bird just because it flows better and that's what a website has showed me. I'm going to go back and change it in the last chapter, too. :| Enjooooy!

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Chapter 11

Jou looked down at the smaller boy and couldn't help a smile when he saw that Yuu had fallen asleep on his shoulder. But they were approaching Swamp Bottom quickly, and Boh and Yu-bird were already waking from their nap—which he admitted they all probably needed. Today had been a very long, tiring day, with spells and trying not to get eaten and running.

As the mouse and miniature bird went back to their places at the window, he carefully pulled Yuu onto his back, trying to jostle him as little as possible so he could sleep longer. Then he stood and walked to the door at the rear of the car. "Come on, guys. This next stop is ours."

Yu-bird grabbed Boh by the scruff and flew them over to land on Yuu's head between his ears. Jou glanced back at Kaonashi and frowned. "I meant you, too. Come on." He smiled a little when the masked spirit came to stand next to him, then looked back at the door as the train slowed to a stop. "It's getting dark out, so everyone stay close, okay?"

Once the train stopped, he carefully stepped up, looking back to make sure Kaonashi had followed them. They watched the train begin to move again and waited until it was out of sight before the blond turned his gaze on the surroundings. "Looks like a swamp. Smells like a swamp. Must be a swamp. …I was hoping it was just the name and that it wouldn't actually be one…" He sighed, then stood up straight and tightened his grip around the smaller boy's legs. "Well, let's get going," he stated, and began walking.

As he stepped off the platform and onto the narrow road, Yu-bird took it upon itself to lift the mouse from his shoulder and begin flying a few steps ahead of them. Jou had to admit he was rather impressed by how far they made it—maybe a quarter of a mile—before the bird finally began to slow down and begin to drift downward. He watched them land on the ground a tad heavily and tilted his head as Boh began to walk.

"If you guys are tired, you can ride on my shoulder, or on Yuu's head again."

Boh huffed in a manner that was half at himself and half at Jou and continued walking.

Jou smiled. "Well, alright, if you want to walk then."

Just as they were about to reach the tree line, however, the boy-turned-mouse paused, and the blond became aware of a rhythmic squeaking. A moment later, he saw a light drifting toward them down the road. "…Maybe someone's coming to meet us. Yuu, wake up." He shrugged to try and jostle his friend awake. "Yuu!"

Yuu snorted as he jerked awake and looked around, frowning. "Wha-? Hmm… Where's the train? Where am I? …Is that a lamp?"

Jou turned his attention from his friend to the light that had drawn steadily closer, blinking in confusion when he saw that it was, indeed, a lamp, the base of which was a hand. He stared for a moment, stunned, but when the lamp bowed, he followed suit. Unfortunately, he didn't count on Yuu trying to bow as well, so he quickly lost his balance and fell. "WAUGH!"

"Ow!"

The lamp straightened and gave the distinct impression that it didn't believe what had just happened. However, once the boys had righted themselves, it turned and began hopping away, pausing to allow them to catch up every few minutes.

It led them to a very homey looking cottage, and when it reached the arch in the fence, the lamp jumped up and caught it with its hand, then made itself perfectly comfortable in a stationary position. The small group paused at the arch, staring at the cottage for a moment, before the two humans took a deep breath and continued walking, not even pausing when Boh and Yu-bird moved up to the feline boy's shoulder.

As they approached door, it swung open, and a pleasant voice said, "Come in."

Jou froze, confused and wary and a million other things. Yu-Baaba hadn't been kind to them, and Zeniiba hadn't seemed kind when he'd met the paper figment of her.

"Well, come on. I haven't got all day."

Yuu rolled his eyes and shoved the blond inside. "_Go,_ Jou-kun. Come on, Kaonashi-san."

When they turned to face the old woman, they stiffened, ready to be hit with magic of any sort, but when she merely closed the door and went about making tea, they could only stare—Jou especially, because she hadn't acted nearly so mellow or kind.

Yuu elbowed him gently. "Jou, the seal. …Be polite!"

"What? …Oh-!" Remembering the golden seal in his pocket, Jou walked over to stand beside her in front of the stove. He pulled it out nervously. "Um, excuse me. You said Seth stole this from you, and I've come to bring it back."

"I see." Zeniiba took the seal from his hands and held it up. "Do you know what this is?"

The blond frowned awkwardly, tail curling up between his legs. "I think so. It's the golden seal you were looking for, right? Um, I'm sorry I said that Seth didn't steal it. I didn't think he would. Um, I also came to apologize for Seth, because he was too sick to come himself." He bowed quickly. "We're both very sorry."

"He cut me in two, you know," she stated, scowling. "And I'm still very angry."

Jou stood up straight and bit his bottom lip. "Um, I don't… know what else to say."

"Hmm." She glanced at the seal in her hand, then blinked in surprise. "The spell on my seal—it's been broken!"

Yuu took a step forward and frowned. "You mean that black slug? I'm sorry, I… I squished it."

"_Squashed it?_" she asked, then began to cackle—but not in an unpleasant way. It was more in amusement than contempt. "That wasn't my slug. My sister put that slug in Seth so that she could control him." She tried to control herself but just ended up laughing again. "_You squashed it!_"

Jou gaped. He didn't know what to do in response.

Zeniiba caught her breath, still chuckling every few minutes, then placed her hand on the blond's shoulder and led him to the table. "What happened to my spell, only love could break it." She glanced at Yuu and motioned to the table again. "Come now, let's sit down."

Yuu began toward the table, but then he remembered the added weight on his shoulder and turned toward her again. "Um, would you mind changing these two back into their normal forms?"

She looked at the mouse and miniature bird in surprise. "The spell on those two wore off long ago. Change back if you want," she told them, but they shook their heads.

Jou gaped again, and Yuu couldn't help but gape as well. After all the trouble they'd gone through-!

.-.-.-.-.-.

"I don't get along with my sister; she's so obnoxious! You saw how tacky her house is," Zeniiba stated, unable to help a playful smile. "We're identical twins, but exact opposites." She paused to take a sip of her tea.

Jou paid her only slight attention; he was too busy watching Kaonashi drain his entire cup of tea. Then, he was distracted by Boh and Yu-bird taking a break from running on the spinning wheel and coming to eat some of the cookies and tea crackers that had been set out. His attention whipped back to Kaonashi as he cut his slice of cake in half and shoved the entire half into his mouth. When she began to talk about Yuu's mother and grandfather, however, he managed to pay attention.

"I'm sorry she turned your mother and grandfather into pigs, but there's nothing I can do about it," she sighed. "It's just the way things are. You'll have to help them on your own." She glanced at Jou. "And you'll have to use what you remember to help Seth."

The blond frowned. "Seriously? Can't you give me more of a hint than that?"

Zeniiba sighed, then continued, "Hasn't Seth felt familiar to you in some way?"

Jou cringed. "…Maybe?"

"…Dear, you may be here for quite some time," she stated, patting him on the head, then stood. "Once you've met someone, you never really forget them; it just takes a while for your memories of them to return. Why don't you think about it more carefully? Yuu can help you." The old woman moved toward the spinning wheel. "It's getting late, so perhaps you should stay the night." She turned her attention to Kaonashi, Boh, and Yu-bird. "Why don't you give me a hand for now?"

Jou sighed and looked down at his hands, frowning. "…I don't know. I get the feeling that I know Seth sometimes, but I don't know how that could be."

"Well, dragons are known for their ties to nature," Yuu suggested. "Have you ever felt incredibly tied to nature?"

"Not since I was a kid, and I only remember my parents fighting or taking my sister out to avoid it," the blond mumbled, ears wilting sadly. He sighed, laying his chin on his hand, then frowned. After a moment, he sat up straight, blushing brightly. "What was that about love!"

The smaller boy smirked. "It would have to come up and hit you in the face, wouldn't it?"

"What are you talking about I don't love anybody shut up!"

"Well, Zeniiba-san _did_ say that only love could break the spell, and—"

"_I will murder you._"

.-.-.-.-.-.

"…You really don't have any idea, do you, Jou-kun?" Yuu frowned and leaned back as his friend hugged his legs to his chest and hid his face miserably. "Not even the smallest clue."

"No." Jou shook his head and pressed his eyes to his knees, trying to force his tears back. "I have no idea how I could have known him." He sniffed and lifted a hand to scrub at his eyes in frustration. "This is taking so long and I'm not remembering anything, and he could be dead already for all we know!" He let his legs down and lifted his other hand to cover his eyes, ashamed that he couldn't hold back his tears. "And your mom and gramps could have been eaten for dinner!

"It's all my fault we're even stuck in this mess! If I'd just gone to a shelter or something, you wouldn't have had to spend all that money to get custody of me and then you wouldn't have to try to cheer me up! I'm causing so much trouble for you and your whole family and now I can't even remember anything to help Seth!"

Yuu took a step backward, shocked by what his friend had said. He'd never realized that the blond had felt so badly about all that he'd gone through—all that his family had gone through—and blamed himself for everything. He didn't understand how Jou could feel that everything was his fault.

It wasn't his fault that his father had beaten him senseless, even if his father _had_ used petty reasons as excuses to hurt him. It hadn't been his fault that in his mind-numbed state that he'd stumbled to one of the only safe places he knew. It wasn't his fault that his mom didn't want him. And Yuu's grandfather and mother hadn't _minded_ paying for lawyers to get custody of him; it hadn't been as expensive as he thought, either, because he was old enough to have some say in where he went.

…Everyone had always told Jou that it was okay to cry, including himself, but now that he was seeing it happen, he wasn't quite sure that crying had the same therapeutic quality for his friend as it did for other people.

"Yuu, why don't you come over here and help us?" Zeniiba suggested. "Let Jou have a while to get himself pulled together."

Yuu's instinct was to try and comfort his friend, but he took a step back and crossed his arms, watching his friend cry for a moment. The blond was obviously not the type to cry in front of people, so he must be really embarrassed that he couldn't control himself. So, sighing, he decided to give his friend a little air and time to collect himself and made his way over to the table.

.-.-.-.-.-.

Yuu held up the necklace he'd twisted together, frowning. "…I don't think I did this right…" He tried to remember the way Anzu had shown him to tie the knots. Hers had looked much cleaner, much prettier. The knots he'd made looked awkward and the wrong colors were showing sometimes. Still, he supposed it was a good first attempt without the brunette to help guide him. He sighed a little. "…It looks stupid," he decided, slumping forward on the table.

_**Chu!**_ Boh waddled over, holding what looked like another cookie—white this time—above his head. He set it down in front of the feline-eared boy, then waddled back over to continue helping Kaonashi spin thread.

Yuu frowned and lifted the cookie, wondering why the baby-turned-mouse had seen fit to give it to him, but then he saw the metal clasp on one side and felt the texture of the white disk; it was hard, and smooth—almost silky. He stared at it for a few moments, baffled, but then gasped in surprise. "Is this one of Seth-san's scales?"

"Apparently it was in one of your friend's pockets," Zeniiba replied, placing a big woven bag on the table and beginning to draw out different sets of knitting needles. "I took the liberty of placing a clasp and hoop on it so you could put it on that lovely choker you made."

The human looked down at the necklace in his hands, surprised, then turned to look at Jou. After a moment, he stood and walked over to him, sliding the hoop over one end of the knotted string. Once that was done, he stopped in front of the blond and slipped the necklace over his head. "Here, Jou. I made it with the thread everyone made."

Jou jerked upward, startled, and sniffled, awkwardly rubbing one of his eyes as he lifted his other hand to gently trail his fingertips over the necklace around his neck. His fingers stilled over the silvery-white disk, brows furrowing together in confusion. "…What is…?"

"It's a friendship bracelet! …Well, friendship necklace. Anzu showed us how to make them, remember?" When the blond only stared at him, the smaller boy sighed. "I just thought you might like it, and it kept me busy. That's one of Seth-san's scales hanging from it."

The puppy-eared boy blushed a little and toyed with the scale awkwardly. "Oh."

Yuu thought about teasing him for the way he was playing with the scale of the man he was supposedly _not_ in love with, then decided against it. He finally looked like he'd calmed down, and he didn't want to ruin that. "Are you feeling better, Jou-kun?"

Jou rubbed his eyes tiredly but nodded just the same. "Yeah. 'm just tired." He smiled a little. "But the necklace made me feel a little better," he admitted quietly.

Zeniiba nodded, having overheard him. "That's because it's made from the threads your friends wove together. It will protect you."

The blond tilted his head, sincerely doubting that a bit of knotted string could help to protect him, but after a moment of thought, he decided that it at least made him feel a little better, even if he knew it wasn't so. He nodded and smiled at the mouse, bird, and mask-wearing spirit thankfully. "Thank you, everyone."

He yelped and jumped aside as the shudders over the window he was next to began to shake, clutching his smaller friend in his disorientation. The smaller teen looked at the other windows, blinking in surprise. "…Hm. Windy outside."

"Oh, we have another guest," the old witch stated, smiling. "Jou, will you go let him in?"

Jou looked up at her in surprise, then nodded, going to open the door. He grunted as he pulled it open, wondering how the little old crone that looked so frail had managed to open it with so little difficulty. _'—The fuck-!'_ Once he peeked outside, his breath hitched in his throat, seeing the giant dragon outside the little house but not really comprehending it.

Seth turned his scaly head, peering at him through one sharp, glowing blue eye. _**Surprised to see me?**_

The blond blushed a little, shivering as the loud but smooth voice rang through his head as if a cool breeze had managed to flow into it. "Y-you… you're…" He squeaked, unsure of what to do for a moment, then rushed out of the house and over to the flying reptile, throwing his arms around his neck. "Seth, I thought you were—I thought you might—"

Seth purred and brought one of his arms around to wrap his claws around the frail human body. _**I'm fine. A little human saved me.**_ His purr grew louder when the blond hugged him tighter, and he couldn't help a smug smile. When he saw Yami smirking at him from the roof of the little house, however, he scowled, glaring at him as if to say, 'shut up, you're ruining it.'

.-.-.-.-.-.

"Are you sure this is okay? It feels really weird," Jou muttered, frowning, as he hid his face in the brunet's neck.

Seth huffed. "Yami can only carry so much weight, and in my dragon form, I only have one speed—fast. I would have lost you between take-off and landing and not even realize it because I wouldn't feel you through the layers of scale. This is the best way."

Jou sighed and dug his fingers into his shirt nervously. After Zeniiba had come out and accepted Seth's apology, she'd made him promise to take care of the two humans. He hadn't been able to hide his blush or stop himself from punching the brunet when he'd merely nodded, because he could take care of himself! …It was just Yuu that needed protection, really, and—

"Damn-! I have to go higher; the updrafts aren't strong enough to keep us gliding down here," the brunet mumbled, beating his wings violently.

The human flinched and threw his arms around the dragon-man's neck, keeping his eyes tightly shut as the brunet's arms tightened around him—

_Jounouchi held his sister as tightly as possible, even as she flailed and screamed and terror. He knew he should be trying to calm her down, but as they were dragged under the water, he felt himself growing panicked as well._

Jou gasped and grabbed Seth tighter, shivering a little as he tried to hold onto the memory.

_They broke the surface of the water for a moment, both of them shrieking a pathetic, garbled 'help' before the water tugged at them again, dragging them further away from the sandy beach. He tried to shove Shizuka upward, tried to get her to air if he couldn't, but then he felt something wrap around his waist and push him upward as well._

Their parents had been fighting while they were on vacation, so Jou had taken his sister to the beach to get her away from them. They'd been playing in the waves when a sudden undertow had dragged his sister off of her feet, and he'd just blindly dived in after her.

_Jounouchi panted and dragged his sister back onto the sand, clutching at her as she cried and hiccupped in shock. He turned to see what it was that had brought them back to shore and gasped when he saw the tiered white tail slipping back into the foamy sea._

_Sharp blue eyes peered out at him through the waves, examining them as if to check that they were alright. Then the creature lifted its regal head, sitting up in the water so that the waves only lapped gently at its hips. It stepped forward, hissed at them with its long, forked tongue, then turned and spread its wings, as if to return to the sky._

_Shizuka had rushed forward to grab its tail. "Wait! Thank you very much for saving us!" she cried, before it could leave._

_The lizard turned to blink at her, let out a rumble, then used its tail to pluck her from the water and place her next to her brother, as if to say, 'stay out of the way, or you might get hurt.'_

_Jounouchi had been worried, but when his sister had only giggled and rushed back into the water to instead grab the dragon's leg and it had only snorted in frustration, he knew it wouldn't hurt them. He stepped into the water and grabbed the end of the dragon's tail, unable to help laughing as the white reptile whined in frustration and tried to step away._

Seth had saved them.

_Their parents had been calling._

He'd kept them from drowning.

_The dragon had panicked and used its claws to stomp up a wave to make the two human children back away._

He'd been just at home in the water as he had been in the sky.

_Its wings had slapped together with a crackle of electricity; it disappeared in a splash of sparks and sea foam._

The Inland Sea, which had been known for its calm waters, had been choppy and stormy for quite a few years now.

Jou bit his bottom lip, confused by the surrealness of his memory. "…Seth?"

"Hmm?"

"…I… I think I remember now."

The brunet looked down at him and raised an eyebrow. "Remember what?"

"…When my sister and I were little, before our parents separated, they'd take us on vacations sometimes." The blond looked up at him, brows drawing together. "It was usually the beach. One day, when our parents were fighting, I took Shizuka out so she wouldn't have to hear it. We were playing in the water, and the undertow suddenly swept us out to sea. We would have drowned, but a big white dragon rescued us. It looked just like you, except a little smaller."

Seth blinked at him slowly, wings twisting to hover in the air. "…Are you saying, you know…?"

Jou turned his gaze away and frowned thoughtfully. "Our vacation was at the Inland Sea that time. Except, that's just the shortened name of it, because it's easier to say. The entire name of the water, it's the Seto Inland Sea." He looked back up at the brunet and was happy to see realization dawning in his eyes. "I think you saved my sister and me that day, and your real name—it's Seto."

There was a pause, a heartbeat, before the brunet let out a roar, wings stiffening with the telltale crackle of electricity.

Jou yelped and instinctively tried to pull away, but the brunet tightened his grip on him, even as his wings crumpled and they began to plummet to the ground. "Seth-!"

Seth roared as lightning crackled over his body—an element he immediately felt a control over, but also knew he hadn't handled in quite some time. He heard the human in his arms cry out in both pain and confusion and frantically reeled in the electricity, cringing as he felt the blond spasming against him.

Reigning in the lightning immediately, he roared again, forcing his wings to extend and catch the air again before the struck the ground. "Shit, shit, shit!"

Jou shivered as he felt the tips of the grass whip against his back before the brunet began beating his wings again; the fall had been terrifying, but when the dragon had pulled out of the sharp dive, he'd felt nothing but how powerful the brunet's body had been in that one moment. He hid his face in the older boy's neck and shivered again.

Yami flew up beside them and screeched as Yugi cried, "Are you guys okay? What happened!"

Seth turned toward him sharply, wings still beating rhythmically even as his eyes filled with hope. "My name. It's Seto, isn't it?"

The crimson and gold bird eyed him for a moment, his sharp eyes glinting in the dim light, before he dipped his head in a nod.

Seth—Seto—let out a roar of delight, throwing his head back and following it with an aerial back-flip—which he followed up with a few barrel rolls just because he was so happy. He could go see his brother! Atemu could lead him to his little brother and they could—

_He could remember Atemu's real name!_

Unable to help himself, Seto dipped his head to kiss the blond on the mouth, wings propelling them into another flip. He heard the human squeak and realized vaguely that he'd probably startled him, but he was too happy to care!

Yuu watched his friend turn bright red, stunned. Boh let out a high-pitched 'chu' and covered his face with his stubby hands while Yu-bird hurriedly turned its head. Once he realized what he was seeing—his best friend being kissed _quite_ thoroughly by a happy Seth (or Seto, he wasn't quite certain about that)—he averted his gaze as well, unable a light blush of his own.

'_Don't love him, indeed,'_ he thought to himself, unable to help a smirk when he realized that Jou hadn't even looked upset.


	12. Chapter 12

Author's Note: Just in case I never mentioned it, Kawa no Kami is the river spirit that gives Jounouchi the gold and Yuugi the bitter dumpling/medicine. Also, I cut the scenes that bored me because I want this story OVER. **:|**

DON'T FREAKING WORRY EVERYONE THERE'S AN EPILOGUE.

* * *

Chapter 12

"Yu-Baaba's got a test planned for you when we get there," Seto explained as Atemu flew up beside him, so the two humans could hear him. "All you have to do is pass her test, and she'll let you and your family return across the river back to your world. After you pass the test, you'll only have a moment to say goodbye to Mai before you have to leave." He snorted. "Because she _will_ demand a goodbye. You can count on it."

"You say that as if you're sure we'll pass the test," Yuu commented. "If she tries to make Jou-kun walk a straight line, we're doomed."

Jou glared at him, then huffed, crossing his arms petulantly. "Shut up." But he couldn't deny that he was worried. He'd never been any good at tests, and with the fate of Yuu's family at stake, he was terrified of failing them.

"You'll be fine." The brunet smirked. "But if you fail, I'll just piss her off to the point that she sends you home just to get me out of her hair."

"…I think I like you better this way," Jou commented quietly. "You didn't seem right, just taking her orders and not fighting back."

Seto glanced down at him and hummed. "Yes, well, I didn't have much choice." He couldn't help a smug smile when he saw how red the blond's lips were. While he'd admit he'd only kissed him because he'd gotten lost in the moment, he was proud of his handiwork; his bottom lip was swollen from being nibbled and he'd even managed to get the blond to kiss him back.

"I'm just glad you can go see your brother," Yuu replied, smiling at him.

"Hey, there they are!"

"Jou! Yuu!"

The two humans turned and couldn't help a smile when they saw Mai waving at them from the roof of the bathhouse, and she was soon joined by some of the other workers, including Honda, Otogi, and Kamajii. Yu-Baaba was pacing back and forth in front of a pen of pigs, and she turned to face them as both Seto and Atemu came to a landing on the bridge.

Her face twisted into a sour expression as the two humans were set down, even as Yu-bird flew Boh over to see her. "I see you've failed to bring my baby back, Seth—"

The large mouse's shape twisted about until he was back in his original form, his feet slamming into the wood with his full weight as he smiled happily at his mother; while his adventure had been fun, he'd never been away from his mother so long before. "Mama!"

She was just as happy to see him—if not happier. "My baby!" The old crone through her arms around him, then quickly leaned back to examine him. "Are you traumatized? Did they do terrible things to you?" She paused, then looked back up at him in surprise. "You're standing up all by yourself. When did that happen?"

Seto scowled and took a step forward. "Don't forget your promise! You said you'd return Jounouchi, Yuugi, and their family back to their world."

Yu-Baaba huffed. "I believe the deal required them to pass one final test before I released them from their contracts." When the bathhouse workers booed at her, she turned and roared, "SHUT UP!"

Boh frowned. "Stop it, Mama. Leave them alone." When she gasped and turned to look up at him in surprise, he turned to smile at the two humans, who returned the gesture, albeit a bit nervously. "I like them. We had a really fun time on the train and making thread."

His mother was clearly confused by the mentioning of thread, but she didn't comment on it, instead appearing very distressed. "But sweetie, a deal is a deal! I have to give them one final test!"

He scowled. "If you make Jou cry again, I won't like you anymore. He doesn't like crying."

"Just tell everybody!" the blond exclaimed in exasperation. A moment later, however, Jounouchi took a deep breath, glanced at his friend, then began walking toward them. "Your mom's right, though, Boh. A deal's a deal. It would be wrong of her not to keep her word."

Yuugi smiled at the large baby sweetly. "It's only fair, Boh." He turned his attention to the old woman and drew his shoulders back. "Alright. We're ready for your test."

Yu-Baaba nodded. "Alright. I've got your contracts right here," she stated, holding up the two scrolls. "If you pass my test, I'll tear them up, and you'll be free to go." She turned to the line of pigs she'd been pacing in front of. "This way. _This will only take a minute,_" she added to her son sweetly.

Jounouchi rolled his eyes in slight disgust, but he had to admit that he was a little jealous of how much she loved her son. Yuugi flashed the giant baby a smile. "Don't worry. We'll be fine."

Stopping in front of the row of pigs, the two boys couldn't help but blink, until the bath crone began to explain the test. "See if you can tell which of these pigs are your mother and grandfather." The pigs began to squeal and grunt as they pressed forward. "You only get one try, so choose carefully," she added. "If you get it right, you can all go home."

Jounouchi blanched. He hadn't taken a very good look at his best friend's family in their swinish bodies; he'd been too ashamed, knowing that it was his fault they were like that to begin with. He wasn't going to pass this test. He was going to be the reason they were trapped here, the reason that Yuugi's mother and grandfather would be trapped as pigs and the reason that they'd be bound to servitude—

He squeaked as he felt a hand gently grasping his and looked down, brows furrowing together when he found the smaller boy smiling at him bravely. "Yuugi-?"

"It's okay. I know what my mom and grandpa look like," he assured, wishing that some of his confidence would rub off on the blond. He was good at guessing games, and he knew he could do this.

He examined all of the pigs thoroughly, but something always seemed off. Their bangs weren't as spiky as his grandpa's, or their faces weren't as rounded as his mother's, or they were too big or too small. He looked the line over again and again, but eventually, he turned to the witch and frowned. "There must be some sort of a mistake. I don't see my mom or grandpa here."

Yu-Baaba's eyes narrowed slyly. "None of them look like your family? Are you sure?"

Yuugi flinched as Jounouchi tightened his grasp on his hand, but nodded resolutely. "Yes, I'm sure."

As soon as he'd said it, the two contracts in her hand exploded into confetti. Jounouchi yelped as he felt a rush of wind past his head and reached up in confusion. When he felt skin instead of fur beneath his fingers, however, he squealed in excitement and turned to look behind him. No tail! It had worked! They were going home! He turned to smile at his friend and couldn't help a laugh of pure joy.

They were immediately tackled by someone wearing pink, and as she gave them noogies, they realized it was Mai. "And here I thought you guys were hopeless!" she teased, standing straight. "I know you guys have to go, but don't forget about me, okay? Because it's sure as hell going to be impossible for me to forget you!"

The two humans laughed, but then Jounouchi remembered the leftover tickets and the bag of gold in his pocket. He pulled them out and placed them in her hands, smiling. "I don't know if that's going to be enough money for you, but at least you've got tickets to take you, Otogi, and Honda somewhere."

As she gaped at him, Yuugi pointed back at Seto, who was waving for them to hurry up. They managed one last smile at the blonde spirit before running back across the bridge, leaving the stunned woman and the cheering crowd behind them.

Seto couldn't help a smile as the two humans ran up to him, looking so happy they just might burst, then turned and quickly began leading them back to the river. "Come on; let's get you home."

"—Hey! If none of those pigs were my mom and grandpa, where are they?" Yuugi asked in confusion, but followed him nonetheless.

"When you passed the test, they woke up on the human side of the river. They're looking for you now. Let's not keep them waiting." He glanced up as Atemu, still in his phoenix form, as he swooped over them and screeched before disappearing in a burst of flames. "Atemu says goodbye."

Yuugi smiled. "Oh! Thank him for us the next time you see him, please! He was nice!"

"Right," Seto muttered."

The two humans paused as they came to the stone stairs that had led to the river when they'd been trapped there, looking around in surprise. Yuugi took a few steps to the edge. "The water's gone." He turned to look back up at Jounouchi and smiled. "We can walk across!"

Jounouchi grinned. "Great!" He began forward to walk down the stairs, but a strong hand gently grasping his own pulled him back, making him turn in surprise. "Huh-?"

"This is as far as I can go," Seto explained, unable to hide the sadness he felt completely; the two humans had been interesting, and their compassion and care for him had been… nice. "All you have to do is go back the way you came. You just have to promise one thing."

The two humans blinked, and the smaller boy forced himself not to tease the blond for blushing or grasping the dragon's hand tighter. "What?"

"You have to promise not to look back. Not until you make it all the way through the tunnel back into your world, or you'll be stuck here forever, and nothing will be able to get you back to your home." He paused, then lifted his other hand to stroke the blond's cheek. "I wouldn't want that to happen to you after all you've been through."

"Uh—what about you? Why can't you come further with us?" Jounouchi asked, trying to ignore the heat he felt rushing to his cheeks.

Seto smirked. "I'm still under contract with Yu-Baaba. However, now that that slug that she'd put in me is gone, I'll be able to renegotiate it with her—perhaps even break it completely. I have no interest in being her apprentice any longer." He peered around the blond at the smaller boy and dipped his head in a bow. "I was told I have you to thank for that, Yuugi."

"Well, I wasn't—that is, I—the medicine I was given— …Yeah. You're welcome." Yuugi smiled awkwardly.

"I'm fine, Jounouchi. I've got my name back. Thank you for worrying, but—"

"Will we meet again?" Jounouchi asked quickly, frowning.

Seto paused, tilting his head thoughtfully. After a moment, though, he nodded. "We've already met once, which never should have happened, and we were brought back together again this time against all odds. I'm sure the fates have something planned for us." He lifted his hand to cup the blond's cheek. "We'll see each other again, Jounouchi. Don't worry."

"…'kay. I believe you." Jounouchi stepped toward him and pressed a kiss on his cheek. "Good luck with your brother. Hope he likes you even when you're a jerk!" he added playfully.

Seeing that the brunet had been annoyed by the blond's teasing, the smaller human grabbed his friend's other hand to drag him away. "Come on, Jounouchi! I wanna see Mom and Grandpa!"

"Huh? I'm coming!"

Despite being irked, Seto tried to hold onto the blond's hand as long as he could, but eventually, the smaller, thinner fingers slid from his own. He watched the two teens run across the rolling grasses until they got out of sight, half hoping that they'd look back, since he didn't know when he'd see them again. Eventually, though, they were out of sight.

He sighed, frowning, then lifted his hand to touch his cheek. "…True love," he murmured thoughtfully, remembering what Kamajii had told him. "…Hmm. I hope we see each other again, too."

.-.-.-.-.-.

"I can't believe how dusty this car is!"

"Is this someone's idea of a joke?"

Jounouchi clasped his hands behind his back and rocked back on his heels as the two adults examined their car, then turned his gaze on his friend and smiled. "Despite all the stress, that was sort of fun, don't you think?"

Yuugi blinked, then scowled in disbelief. "Jounouchi-kun, really?"

"Well, some of the stuff was pretty cool," the blond argued, frowning. "And Mai was nice—and Kawa no Kami was pretty cool. Kaonashi wasn't bad, either, and Boh was cool after he was turned into a mouse."

The smaller boy paused, then smiled coyly. "Not to mention Seto-san. He was pretty handsome."

"Yeah, I gu—Wha-?"

"You kissed his cheek, Jounouchi-kun," Yuugi replied, walking toward the car. "You can't really deny it anymore."

Jounouchi stomped his foot angrily. "Yes I can!"

"…And you're still wearing his scale on that hideous necklace around your neck."

"Shut up you're the one that made it jeeze!" the blond exclaimed, stomping toward the car as well.

Yuugi laughed as they got into the car, settling himself back into the spot that he'd been sitting in before. Seeing a bag of chips, he opened it, examined it for ants or anything else, then took one and ate it. "Hmm. Stale."

The taller boy shoved his hand into the bag. "Don't care. Hungry."

"Riiight…" He pulled out a fresh bag of Pocky and opened it as his grandfather turned the car around.

Ashita glanced into the rearview mirror and raised an eyebrow, then turned, smiling. "Jounouchi, you're eating!"

The blond blinked, startled. "Um… I have been for a while."

"…Of course you have," she deadpanned, then rolled her eyes.

Jounouchi stared at the back of her head, baffled, but then he remembered that she had been a pig for the time they'd been in the spirit world and couldn't remember that he'd been eating since he'd started working in the bathhouse, because he'd been _quite _ravenous after all of their hard work of cleaning.

…Wait, time had passed in both worlds, so that was why the car had been dusty, and why the chips were stale, and someone must have reported them missing and—

Yuugi yelped as the taller boy clamped down on his arm. "Ow! Jounouchi-kun, what—"

"Anzu is going to kill us," Jounouchi squeaked, then sank in his seat. "Kill us dead!"


	13. Epilogue

Author's Note: What? Ends abruptly? So does the movie. At least there's a happy ending. **:|**

* * *

Epilogue

Jounouchi pulled the necklace over his head and lifted it up so he could examine it, feeling somewhat wistful and disappointed.

Five years. It had been five years since they'd worked at the bathhouse, has been returned to the human world. Five years since he'd felt Seto's hand slip out of his and he hadn't looked back until they'd made it to the car. Five years that he'd been hoping, praying that he'd see Seto again, but hadn't.

He touched the scale and sighed. Maybe that was the last time they'd been meant to meet. Maybe that was how they were both supposed to get closure. Maybe holding onto his feelings this long was pointless.

…But he didn't want to give up. Seto had said they'd see each other again, and he didn't want to give up that small amount of hope—hope that he'd see the dragon that had saved both he and sister.

The scale was silky and soft, but still harder and stronger than any other material he'd ever touched. It was somehow comforting…

Sitting up, Jounouchi looked at the clock, then turned to look at Yuugi, slipping the necklace back on. He was sound asleep, and the blond sincerely wanted to be, too, but he knew he was too restless and too preoccupied with his thoughts. So, sighing, he got out of bed and slipped on some jeans and shoes before leaving the shop, making sure to lock the door behind himself.

He wasn't sure where he wanted to go, but he decided his legs would know better than his head—they'd led him to the game shop after his father had beaten him, leading him to a better situation despite the first few initial problems, so he figured they had a pretty good idea of where they were going.

The part was nice at night. It was beautiful in the moonlight, if a bit lonely looking, because of the empty playground and the absence of laughter. It was a good place to think and just… be.

Jounouchi wandered over to the swings and sat down, shivering a little as his fingers curled around the cold chains suspending it. After a moment, he used his feet to gently push himself back and forth, listening to the slow, steady squeak of the metal links grinding against each other. It seemed even more quaint now, in a tragic sort of way, the solitary metal squeals of a single swing.

He pulled the tattered necklace over his head again, running his fingers over the frayed threads that had been woven together by old but unforgotten friends. He wondered how they were doing. He wondered if Mai, Otogi, and Honda had gotten to travel like they'd wanted. He wondered if Atemu was still giving the bathhouse trouble by being an early customer. He wondered if Seto and his brother were doing alright.

…The Seto Inland Sea had settled since then, returning to its former, more placid state. So they must have been doing okay, even if things weren't great, he decided. He stroked the silky scale and sighed. He hoped that Seto thought about him at least half as much as he thought of the brunet.

Jounouchi heard footsteps behind him and frowned, baffled. _'Who else would be-?'_ Probably someone that didn't want to be bothered. He decided to stay still and ignore the other person. Perhaps they just needed to get out like he had.

He tilted his head as the scale flashed in the light. That was funny. It hadn't done that before…

"You're out late."

That voice was deep, smooth—familiar. As he was trying to place it, he sensed the person coming up behind him, so he jumped to his feet and turned quickly.

When he saw the brunet standing there, however, he felt the necklace slip from his fingers in shock. He dimly heard the scale tinkle and clatter on the ground, but he was too stunned to really register it as he took in the tall, muscular man that looked so familiar but so different in his modern clothes.

In his startled, confused state, Jounouchi was embarrassed to admit that the only thing he could think of to say way, "You look like a bondage-based wet dream."

Seto stared at him for a moment, stunned, before his lips twisted into a smirk. "You must be into that sort of thing to recognize it."

Jounouchi squeaked and glared at him. "Shut up, you pervert-!" He gasped as the brunet grabbed him and pulled him into a hug, then squeezed his eyes shut and shivered. "Jerk, you think you can just show up after five years and—"

"I had to break my contract with Yu-Baaba," Seto cut in, nuzzling his neck lightly. "Then I wanted to spend time with my brother. Then I had to convince him to come with me to find you. He didn't like the thought of sharing me after having been without me for so long. I hope you can understand."

He supposed he did. If he were reunited with Serenity, he wouldn't want to share her either. Still, it had been five years, so instead of saying he understood, he lifted his arms to hug him back. "I missed you."

"I missed you as soon as you started walking away," the brunet replied quietly. "You have no idea how much I wished you hadn't gone. But I knew you belonged here." He brushed his lips over the younger boy's neck up to his jaw, then leaned back to gaze down at him. "I'm sorry it took so long to find you again. And I'm sorry I made you wait so long."

Jounouchi sighed and turned his gaze away for a few minutes. "…It was a really long time, Seto."

"I know."

"That's a long time for a human to wait, you know?"

"I figured as much." Seto stroked the blond's hair. "I was afraid you wouldn't want me anymore, so I was almost afraid to come see you, but… Mai asked me to give you something that she said you forgot."

Jounouchi leaned back to look up at him, blinking innocently. "Hmm? What is it?"

The brunet reached behind him to grab the item and held it up so the younger boy could see it. "Do you remember this?"

"My hat from Oshira-sama!" Jounouchi grabbed it and hugged it tightly. "I remembered it a few days after we left! I thought I'd never see it again!"

Seto smiled a little. "You seem more excited to see that hat than you were to see me."

"Maybe I am!" the blond huffed, scowling at him, then glanced away from him, frowning. "…It's just… I know you're not always gonna be there, but this hat can be. Even when you leave, it'll be here to remind me that it really happened."

The brunet tilted his head and raised an eyebrow. "Why are you so sure that I'm going to leave?"

Jounouchi hummed and rocked back and forth a few times before looking up at the sky. "Everyone leaves, Seto. Mom left, and she took my little sister with her. Yuugi's going to college for archeology like his Gramps, Gramps is getting old, Yuugi's mom is talking about travelling. Anzu's going to school in New York. You've got your brother to take care of, so you'll probably leave, too. Your brother needs you more than I do, though, so I understa—" He squeaked as the brunet hugged him again and pulled him into a kiss, then melted in his arms.

Seto kissed him a few seconds longer before leaning back and raising an eyebrow. "I came to find you with the intention of staying. Mokuba needs my attention, yes, but he's willing to get to know you. I think he'll like you." He waited for a response, but the younger boy only shifted awkwardly in his arms. "…I know you expect me to leave, but I've been searching for you for a year and a half. I'm not letting that hard work go to waste. I'll show you that I'm here to stay."

The blond took a step back and placed the hat on his head, smiling a little when he remembered the radish spirit's aloof demeanor, even when he was giving him the hat. "You're welcome to prove me wrong, but I'm not going to get my hopes up that you'll do it. Will you be okay with that? Will you be okay with the fact that I'll always be ready for you to leave?"

"I see." The dragon eyed him for a moment, then nodded. "Yes, I'll be okay with that. It will make the victory much sweeter when I finally make you see that I have no intention of leaving you." He paused, then leaned down to place another kiss on the blond's lips. "I'll make you see that not everyone leaves. And maybe you can help me make a family for Mokuba."

Jounouchi kissed him back lightly. "Maybe. But I don't know how good I'd be at it, since mine was crap and Yuugi doesn't have any siblings. I might not know what to do with him."

"I think you'll do fine." Seto purred and pulled the blond into a hug, resting his hands on the younger boy's hips. "I'll bring Mokuba to meet you tomorrow. I was going to see you earlier today, but then your game shop closed, and I didn't want to disturb you. I just happened to be passing through here when I saw you." He chuckled. "I told you fate had something planned for us."

Jounouchi smiled and laid his head on his chest. "Maybe you're right." He sighed as the brunet nuzzled his neck and snuggled closer to him. "…Maybe you won't leave, either…"

Seto kissed his throat softly but didn't comment; he was too afraid that Jounouchi might change his mind and decide he still might leave anyway. He had no intention of leaving now that he'd found him again after all of the trouble he'd had to go through to get there.


End file.
